THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


BEQUEST 
OF 

Professor 
Howard  Moise 


\ 


PEN   DRAWING 

AN  ILLUSTRATED  TREATISE 


PEN   DRAWING 

AN     ILLUSTRATED     TREATISE 
BY    CHARLES     D.     MAGINNIS 


ARCHITECT 


FORMERLY  INSTRUCTOR  IN   ILLUSTRATION,   COWLES  ART  SCHOOL 
INSTRUCTOR    IN    PEN    DRAWING,   BOSTON    ARCHITECTURAL    CLUB 


1903 

BATES     &     GUILD     COMPANY 
BOSTON 


FOURTH  EDITION 


COPYRIGHT 

BY 
BATES  &  GUILD  COMPANY 


PRINTED  BY 

THE  F.  A.  BA^SETTE  COMPANY 
SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 


LOAN  STACK 
GIFT 


At  70s- 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

To  Mr.  David  A.  Gregg  and  to  Mr.  Bert- 
ram G.  Goodhue,  who  have  generously  made 
special  drawings -for  this  little  book,  and  to 
the  Publishers  who  have  courteously  allowed 
me  to  make  use  of  illustrations  owned  by 
them,  my  thanks  and  my  cordial  acknowl- 
edgments are  due.  c.  D.  M. 


031 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


1 .  JOSEPH  PENNELL.      From  The  Century  Magazine 
(The  Century  Co:  New  York) 5 

2.  MAXIME  LALANNE.      From  "  La  Hollande  a  Vol 
d'Oiseau,"  by  H.  Havard  (A.  Quantin:   Paris).        7 

3.  MAXIME  LALANNE.      From  "La  Hollande  a  Vol 
d'Oiseau,"  by  H.  Havard  (A.  Quantin:   Paris).        8 

4.  RESTORATION     HOUSE,     ROCHESTER,     ENGLAND. 
Drawing  from  a  Photograph 9 

5.  JOSEPH  PENNELL.      From   "Highways  and  By- 
ways in  North  Wales  "  (Macmillan  &  Co:  Lon- 
don)   10 

6.  BERTRAM  G.  GOODHUE.     Drawn  for  "  Pen  Draw- 
ing"       20 

7.  HERBERT  RAILTON.     From  "Coaching  Days  and 
Coaching  Ways,"  by  W.  Outram  Tristram  (Mac- 
millan &  Co:  London) 21 

8.  BERTRAM  G.  GOODHUE.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Draw- 
ing " 23 

9.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Drawing"      .      .      24 

10.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Drawing  "      .      .      25 

11.  MARTIN  Rico.      From  La  Ilustracion  Espanola  y 
Americana 26 

12.  C.  D    M.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Drawing "      .      .      28 

13.  DANIEL  VIERGE.      From  "Pablo  de  Segovie,"  by 
Francisco  de  Quevedo  (Leon  Bonhoure:  Paris)   .      29 

14.  MARTIN  Rico.      From  La  Ilustracion  Espanola  y 
Americana 30 

15.  ALFRED  BRENNAN.      From  St.  Nicholas  (The  Cen- 
tury Co:  New  York)        31 

16.  LESLIE  WILLSON.      From  Pick- Me- Up  (London)      32 


viii   LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

17.  DRAWING  FROM   PHOTOGRAPH.      From  Harper's 
Magazine  (Harper  &  Brothers:  New  York)        .      34 

18.  JOSEPH  PENNELL.     From  '« The  Saone:  A  Summer 
Voyage,"  by  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton  (Seeley  & 
Co:  London) 36 

19.  JOSEPH  PENNELL.     From  «'  The  Saone:  A  Summer 
Voyage,"  by  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton  (Seeley  & 
Co:  London) 37 

20.  JOSEPH  PENNELL.     From  Harper' s  Magazine  (Har- 
per &  Brothers:  New  York) 38 

21.  E.  DANTAN.      From  U Art  (Paris)      ....      39 

22.  J,  F.  RAFFAELLI.      From  Gazette  des  Beaux- Arts 
(Paris) 40 

23.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Drawing  "      .      .      45 

24.  D.  A.  GREGG.      From   "Architectural  Render- 
ing in  Pen  and  Ink,"  by  D.  A.  Gregg  (Ticknor 

&  Co:  Boston) 46 

25.  DANIEL  VIERGE.      From  "  Pablo  de  Segovie,"  by 
Francisco  de  Quevedo  (Leon  Bonhoure:  Paris)  .      47 

26.  DANIEL  VIERGE.      From  "  Pablo  de  Segovie,"  by 
Francisco  de  Quevedo  (Leon  Bonhoure:  Paris)  .      48 

27.  HARRY   FENN.       From    The    Century    Magazine 
(The  Century  Co:  New  York) 49 

28.  REGINALD  BIRCH.      From  The  Century  Magazine 
(The  Century  Co:  New  York) 51 

29.  JOSEPH  PENNELL.      From  The  Century  Magazine 
(The  Century  Co:  New  York) 53 

30.  BERTRAM  G.  GOODHUE.      From  The  Architectural 
Review  (Bates  &  Guild  Co:  Boston)    ....      54 

31.  JOSEPH  PENNELL.      From  "  Charing  Cross  to  St. 
Paul's,"    by   Justin    McCarthy    (Seeley    &    Co: 
London) 55 

32.  LEONARD  RAVEN  HILL.    From  Pick-Me-  Up  (Lon- 
don)    57 

33.  DANIEL  VIERGE       From  "  Pablo  de  Segovie,"  by 
Francisco  de  Quevedo  (Leon  Bonhoure:  Paris)    .      58 

34.  P.  G.  JEANNIOT.      From  La  Vie  Moderne  (Paris)      59 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS     ix 

35.  PORCH  OF  AN   ENGLISH  CHURCH.      From  a  Pho- 
tograph       60 

36.  D.  A.  GREGG.      Drawn  for  "Pen  Drawing"    .  61 

37.  NORMANDY  MOAT-HOUSE.      From  a  Photograph  63 

38.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Drawing"      .      .  65 

39.  STREET  IN  HOLLAND.      From  a  Photograph     .      .  66 

40.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "Pen  Drawing"      .      .  69 

41.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Drawing"      .      .  76 

42.  GEORGE  F.  NEWTON.      From  "  Catalogue  of  the 
Philadelphia  &  Boston  Face  Brick  Co."  (Boston).  78 

43.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Drawing  "      .      .  79 

44.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "Pen  Drawing"      .      .  83 

45.  FRANK  E.WALLIS.    From  The  Engineering  Re 'cord  84 

46.  HARRY  ALLAN  JACOBS.      From  The  Architectural 
Review  (Bates  &  Guild  Co:  Boston)    ....  86 

47.  D,  A.  GREGG.      From   "Architectural   Render- 
ing in  Pen  and  Ink,"  by  D.  A.  Gregg  (Ticknor 

&  Co:  Boston) 87 

48.  D.  A.  GREGG.      From  The  Erickbuilder  (Rogers 

&  Manson:  Boston) 90 

49.  HERBERT  RAILTON.     From  "  Coaching  Days  and 
Coaching  Ways,"  by  W.  Outram  Tristram  (Mac- 
millan  &  Co:  London) 91 

50.  D.  A.   GREGG.      From  The  American  Architect 
(The   American   Architect  and    Building    News 
Co:  Boston) 92 

5 1 .  WALTER  M.  CAMPBELL.  From  The  American  Archi- 
tect (The  American  Architect  and  Building  News 
Co:  Boston) 93 

52.  HERBERT  RAILTON.      From  "  Coaching  Days  and 
Coaching  Ways,"  by  W.  Outram  Tristram  (Mac- 
millan  &  Co:  London) 94 

53.  A.    F.   JACCACI.      From  The   Century   Magazine 
(The  Century  Co:  New  York) 95 

54.  CLAUDE  FAYETTE  BRAGDON.      From  The  Brick- 
builder  (Rogers  &  Manson:  Boston)      ....      96 

55.  HARVEY  ELLIS.    From  The  Inland  Architect  (The 
Inland  Publishing  Co:  Chicago) 97 


x      LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

56.  C.  E.   MALLOWS.      From  The  British  Architect 
(London) 98 

57.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Drawing"      .      .    100 

58.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "Pen  Drawing"      .      .    101 

59.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "Pen  Drawing"      .      .    102 

60.  C.  D.  M.      Drawn  for  "  Pen  Drawing  "      .      .    104 

61.  A.B.FROST.    From  Scribner's  Magazine  (Charles 
Scribner's  Sons:  New  York) 109 

62.  ALFRED  G.  JONES.      From  a  Book  Plate    .     .      .    ill 

63.  WALTER   APPLETON    CLARK.       From    Scribner's 
Magazine  (Charles  Scribner's  Sons:  New  York)  .    112 

64.  A.  CAMPBELL  CROSS.    FromQuartier  Latin  (Paris)    1 1  3 

65.  MUCHA.      From  a  Poster  Design 114 

66.  HOWARD    PYLE.       From    "Otto    of  the    Silver 
Hand,"  by    Howard    Pyle  (Charles   Scribner's 
Sons:  New  York) 115 

67.  WILL  H.  BRADLEY.      From  a  Poster  Design  for 
The  Chap- Book  (Herbert  S.  Stone  &  Co:  Chicago)   1 16 

68.  P.  J.  BILLINGHURST.      From  a  Book  Plate      .     .117 

69.  "  BEGGARSTAFF  BROTHERS."      From  a  Poster  De- 
sign      1 1  8 

70.  EDWARD    PENFIELD.        From    a    Design    for   the 
"  Poster  Calendar  "  (R.  H.  Russell  &  Son:  New 
York) 119 

71.  Louis  J.    RHEAD.       From    a    Poster   Design    for 
"Lundborg's  Perfumes" 120 

72.  J.  W.  SIMPSON.      From  a  Book  Plate  .     .      .      .120 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  I. —  Style  in  Pen  Drawing      .  i 

CHAPTER  II. —  Materials 12 

CHAPTER  III. —  Technique      ....  19 

CHAPTER  IV. —  Values 45 

CHAPTER  V. —  Practical  Problems    .     .  60 

CHAPTER  VI. —  Architectural  Drawing.  71 

CHAPTER  VII. —  Decorative  Drawing   .  106 


CHAPTER     I 
STYLE      IN      PEN      DRAWING 

Art,  with  its  finite  means,  cannot  hope  to  re- 
cord the  infinite  variety  and  complexity  of 
Nature,  and  so  contents  itself  with  a  partial 
statement,  addressing  this  to  the  imagination 
for  the  full  and  perfect  meaning.  This  inad- 
equation,  and  the  artificial  adjustments  which 
it  involves,  are  tolerated  by  right  of  what  is 
known  as  artistic  convention  ;  and  as  each  art 
has  its  own  particular  limitations,  so  each  has 
its  own  particular  conventions.  Sculpture  re- 
produces the  forms  of  Nature,  but  discards  the 
color  without  any  shock  to  our  ideas  of  verity  ; 
Painting  gives  us  the  color,  but  not  the  third 
dimension,  'and  we  are  satisfied  ;  and  Archi- 
tecture is  -purely  conventional,  since  it  does 
not  even  aim  at  the  imitation  of  natural  form. 
Of  the  kindred  arts  which  group  themselves 
under  the  head  of  Painting,  none  is  based  on 
such  broad  conventions  as  that  with  which  we 
are  immediately  concerned  —  the  art  of  Pen 
Drawing.  In  this  medium,  Nature's  variety 
of  color,  when  not  positively  ignored,  is  sug- 
gested by  means  of  sharp  black  lines,  of  varying 
thickness,  placed  more  or  less  closely  together 


2  PEN    DRAWING 

upon  white  paper;  while  natural  form  depends 
primarily  for  its  representation  upon  arbitrary 
boundary  lines.  There  is,  of  course,  no  au- 
thority in  Nature  for  a  positive  outline :  we 
see  objects  only  by  the  difference  in  color  of 
the  other  objects  behind  and  around  them. 
The  technical  capacity  of  the  pen  and  ink 
medium,  however,  does  not  provide  a  value 
corresponding  to  every  natural  one,  so  that  a 
broad  interpretation  has  to  be  adopted  which 
eliminates  the  less  positive  values;  and,  that 
form  may  not  likewise  be  sacrificed,  the  out- 
line becomes  necessary,  that  light  objects  may 
stand  relieved  against  light.  This  outline  is 
the  most  characteristic,  as  it  is  the  most  indis- 
pensable, of  the  conventions  of  line  drawing. 
To  seek  to  abolish  it  only  involves  a  resort  to 
expedients  no  less  artificial,  and  the  results  of 
all  such  attempts,  dependent  as  they  necessarily 
are  upon  elaboration  of  color,  and  a  general 
indirectness  of  method,  lack  some  of  the  best 
characteristics  of  pen  drawing.  More  fre- 
quently, however,  an  elaborate  color-scheme  is 
merely  a  straining  at  the  technical  limitations 
of  the  pen  in  an  effort  to  render  the  greatest 
possible  number  of  values. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  inquire  whether 
excellence  in  pen  drawing  consists  in  thus  dis- 
pensing with  its  recognized  conventions,  or  in 
otherwise  taxing  the  technical  resources  of  the 
instrument.  This  involves  the  question  of 


STYLE    IN    PEN    DRAWING        3 

Style,  —  of  what  characteristic  pen  methods 
are,  —  a  question  which  we  will  briefly  con- 
sider. 

It  is  a  recognized  principle  that  every  me- 
dium  of  art  expression  should  be  treated  with 
due  regard  to  its  nature  and  properties.  The 
sculptor  varies  his  technique  according  as  he 
works  in  wood,  granite,  or  marble  ;  the  painter 
handles  his  water-color  in  quite  another  man- 
ner than  that  he  would  employ  on  an  oil-paint- 
ing of  the  same  subject ;  and  the  architect,  with 
the  subtle  sense  of  the  craftsman,  carries  this 
principle  to  such  a  fine  issue  as  to  impart  an 
individual  expression  even  to  particular  woods. 
He  knows  that  what  may  be  an  admirable  de- 
sign when  executed  in  brass  may  be  a  very  bad 
one  in  wrought-iron  and  is  sure  to  be  an  ab- 
surdity in  wood.  An  artistic  motive  for  a 
silver  flagon,  too,  is  likely  to  prove  ugly  for 
pottery  or  cut-glass,  and  so  on.  There  is 
a  genius,  born  of  its  particular  properties, 
in  every  medium,  which  demands  individual 
expression.  Observe,  therefore,  that  Art  is 
not  satisfied  with  mere  unrelated  beauty  of 
form  or  color.  It  requires  that  the  result  con- 
fess some  sensible  relation  to  the  means  by 
which  it  has  been  obtained  ;  and  in  proportion 
as  it  does  this,  it  may  claim  to  possess  that 
individual  and  distinctive  charm  which  we  call 
"Style."  It  may  be  said,  therefore,  that  the 
technical  limitations  of  particular  mediums  im- 


4  PEN    DRAWING 

pose  what  might  properly  be  called  natural 
conventions;  and  while  misguided  ambition 
may  set  these  conventions  aside  to  hammer  out 
effects  from  an  unwilling  medium,  the  triumph 
is  only  mechanical  ;  Art  does  not  lie  that  way, 
The  Ought  the  pen,  then,  to  be  persuaded  into  the 
""?«  province  of  the  brush  ?  Since  the  natures  of 
the  two  means  differ,  it  does  not  stultify  the 
water-color  that  it  cannot  run  the  deep  gamut 
of  oil.  Even  if  the  church-organ  be  the  grand- 
est and  most  comprehensive  of  musical  instru- 
ments we  may  still  be  permitted  to  cherish  our 
piano.  Each  has  its  own  sphere,  its  own  rea- 
son for  being.  So  of  the  pen,  —  the  piccolo 
flute  of  the  artistic  orchestra.  Let  it  pipe  its 
high  treble  as  merrily  as  it  may,  but  do  not 
coerce  it  into  mimicking  the  bassoon. 

Pen  drawing  is  most  apt  to  lose  its  individ- 
uality when  it  begins  to  assume  the  character- 
istics of  wash-drawing,  such  as  an  elaborate 
massing  of  grays,  small  light  areas,  and  a  gen- 
eral indirectness  of  method.  A  painter  once 
told  me  that  he  was  almost  afraid  to  handle 
the  pen,  —  "  It  is  so  fearfully  direct,"  he  said. 
He  understood  the  instrument,  certainly,  for 
if  there  is  one  characteristic  more  than  another 
which  should  distinguish  pen  methods  it  is  Di- 
rectness. The  nature  of  the  pen  seems  to 
mark  as  its  peculiar  function  that  of  picking 
out  the  really  vital  features  of  a  subject.  Pen 
drawing  has  been  aptly  termed  the  "  shorthand 


FIG.     I 


JOSEPH   PENNELL 


6  PEN    DRAWING 

of  Art;"  the  genius  of  the  pen-point  is  essen- 
tially epitome. 

If  we  turn  to  the  brush,  we  find  its  capacity 
such  that  a  high  light  may  be  brought  down 
to  a  minute  fraction  of  an  inch  with  a  few 
swift  strokes  of  it;  whereas  the  tedious  labor, 
not  to  speak  of  the  actual  technical  difficulties, 
encountered  in  attempting  such  an  effect  of 
color  with  pen  and  ink,  indicates  that  we  are 
forcing  the  medium.  Moreover,  it  is  techni- 
cally impossible  to  reproduce  with  the  pen  the 
low  values  which  may  be  obtained  with  the 
brush;  and  it  is  unwise  to  attempt  it.  The 
way,  for  example,  in  which  Mr.  Joseph  Pen- 
nell  handles  his  pen  as  compared  with  that  in 
which  he  handles  his  brush  is  most  instructive 
as  illustrating  what  I  have  been  maintaining. 
His  pen  drawings  are  pitched  in  a  high  key, — 
brilliant  blacks  and  large  light  areas,  with  often 
just  enough  half-tone  to  soften  the  effect. 
His  wash-drawings,  on  the  contrary,  are  so 
utterly  different  in  manner  as  to  have  nothing 
in  common  with  the  others,  distinguished  as 
they  are  by  masses  of  low  tone  and  small  light 
areas.  Compare  Figs,  i  and  5.  Observe  that 
there  is  no  straining  at  the  technical  capacity 
of  the  pen  or  of  the  brush;  no  attempt  to  ob- 
tain an  effect  in  one  medium  which  seems  to 
be  more  naturally  adapted  to  the  other.  Indi- 
viduality is  imparted  to  each  by  a  frank  con- 
cession to  its  peculiar  genius. 


STYLE    IN    PEN    DRAWING 


<..;r> 

t"« 


ffi 


FIG.    2 


MAXIME   LALANNE 


I  have  said  that  the  chief  characteristic  of  pen  Examples 
methods  is  Directness.  I  think  I  may  now 
say  that  the  chief  element  of  style  is  Economy 
of  Means.  The  drawing  by  M.  Maxime  La- 
lanne  shown  in  Fig.  2  is  an  excellent  example 
of  this  economy  carried  to  its  extreme.  Not  a 
stroke  could  be  spared,  so  direct  and  simple  is 
it,  and  yet  it  is  so  complete  and  homogenous 
that  nothing  could  be  added  to  make  it  more 
so.  The  architecture  is  left  without  color,  and 
yet  we  are  made  to  feel  that  it  is  not  white  — 
this  subtle  suggestion  of  low  color  being  ob- 
tained by  a  careful  avoidance  of  any  strong 
black  notes  in  the  rendering,  which  would  have 
intensified  the  whites  and  lighted  up  the  pic- 
ture. Fig.  3,  by  the  same  artist,  is  even  more 


STYLE    IN    PEN    DRAWING 


FIG.    4 


FROM    A   PHOTOGRAPH 


notable  by  reason  of  the  masterly  breadth 
which  characterizes  the  treatment  of  a  most 
complicated  subject.  A  comparison  of  these 
with  a  drawing  of  the  Restoration  House,  at 
Rochester,  England,  Fig.  4,  is  instructive.  In 
the  latter  the  method  is  almost  painfully  elab- 
orate ;  nothing  of  the  effect  is  obtained  by 
suggestion.  The  technique  is  varied  and  in- 


10 


PEN    DRAWING 


teresting,  but  the  whole  drawing  lacks  that 
individual  something  which  we  call  Style.  In 
the  Lalanne  drawings  we  see  foliage  con- 
vincingly represented  by  means  of  the  mere 
outlines  and  a  few  subtle  strokes  of  the  pen. 
There  is  no  attempt  at  the  literal  rendering  of 
natural  objects  in  detail,  all  is  accomplished 
by  suggestion :  and  while  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
understood  as  insisting  upon  such  a  severely 
simple  style,  much  less  upon  the  purist  theory 
that  the  function  of  the  pen  is  concerned  with 
form  alone,  I  would  impress  upon  the  student 
that  Lalanne's  is  incomparably  the  finer  man- 
ner of  the  two. 

Between  these  two  extremes  of  method  there 
is  a  wide  latitude  for  individual  choice.  Con- 
trast with  the  foregoing  the  accompanying  pen 
drawing  by  Mr.  Pennell,  Fig.  5,  which  gives  a 


FIG.    5 


JOSEPH   PENNELL 


STYLE    IN    PEN    DRAWING     n 

fair  idea  of  the  manner  of  this  admirable  sty- 
list.  Compared  with  the  sketches  by  Lalanne 
it  has  more  richness  of  color,  but  there  is  the 
same  fine  restraint,  the  same  nice  regard  for 
the  instrument.  The  student  will  find  it  most 
profitable  to  study  the  work  of  this  masterly 
penman.  By  way  of  warning,  however,  let  me 
remind  him  here,  that  in  studying  the  work  of 
any  accomplished  draughtsman  he  is  selecting 
a  style  for  the  study  of  principles,  not  that  he 
may  learn  to  mimic  somebody,  however  excel- 
lent the  somebody  may  be;  that  he  must,  there- 
fore, do  a  little  thinking  himself;  that  he  has  an 
individuality  of  his  own  which  he  does  not  con- 
fess if  his  work  looks  like  some  one's  else; 
and,  finally,  that  he  has  no  more  right  to  con- 
sciously appropriate  the  peculiarities  of  an- 
other's style  than  he  has  to  appropriate  his 
more  tangible  property,  and  no  more  reason  to 
do  so  than  he  has  to  walk  or  talk  like  him. 


J 


CHAPTER    II 
MATERIALS 

Every  illustrator  has  his  special  predilections 
in  the  matter  of  materials,  just  as  he  has  in  the 
matter  of  methods.  The  purpose  of  this  chap- 
ter is,  therefore,  rather  to  assist  the  choice  of 
the  student  by  limiting  it  than  to  choose  for 
him.  It  would  be  advisable  for  him  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  various  materials 
that  I  may  have  occasion  to  mention  (all  of 
them  are  more  or  less  employed  by  the  promi- 
nent penmen ),  and  a  partiality  for  particular 
ones  will  soon  develop  itself.  He  is  reminded, 
however,  that  it  is  easily  possible  to  exaggerate 
the  intrinsic  values  of  pens  and  papers ;  in 
fact  the  beginner  invariably  expects  too  much 
from  them.  Of  course,  he  should  not  use  any 
but  the  best,  —  even  Vierge  could  not  make 
a  good  drawing  with  a  bad  pen,  —  but  the  ar- 
tistic virtues  of  a  particular  instrument  are  not 
likely  to  disclosethemselves  in  the  rudescratch- 
ings  of  the  beginner.  He  has  to  master  it,  to 
"break  it  in/'  ere  he  can  discover  of  what  ex- 
cellent service  it  is  capable. 

The  student  will  find  that  most  of  the  steel 
pens  made  for  artists  have  but  a  short  period 


MATERIALS  13 

of  usefulness.  When  new  they  are  even  more  Pens 
unresponsive  than  when  they  are  old.  At  first 
they  are  disposed  to  give  a  hard,  wiry  line,  then 
they  grow  sympathetic,  and,  finally,  lose  their 
temper,  when  they  must  be  immediately  thrown 
away.  As  a  general  rule,  the  more  delicate 
points  are  better  suited  to  the  smooth  surfaces, 
where  they  are  not  likely  to  get  tripped  up  and 
"shaken"  by  the  roughness  in  the  paper. 

To  begin  with  the  smaller  points,  the  "  Gil- 
lott  Crow-quill"  is  an  excellent  instrument. 
The  normal  thickness  of  its  line  is  extremely 
small,  but  so  beautifully  is  the  nib  made  that 
it  will  respond  vigorously  to  a  big  sweeping 
stroke.  I  say  a  u  sweeping  stroke,"  as  its 
capacity  is  not  to  be  taxed  for  uniformly  big 
lines.  An  equally  delicate  point,  which  sur- 
passes the  crow-quill  in  range,  is  "  Gillott's 
Mapping-pen."  It  is  astonishing  how  large  a 
line  may  be  made  with  this  instrument.  It 
responds  most  nimbly  to  the  demands  made 
upon  it,  and  in  some  respects  reminds  one  of 
a  brush.  It  has  a  short  life,  but  it  may  be  a 
merry  one.  Mr.  Pennell  makes  mention  of  a 
pen,  "  Perry's  Auto-Stylo,"  which  seems  to 
possess  an  even  more  wonderful  capacity,  but 
of -this  I  cannot  speak  from  experience.  A 
coarser,  but  still  a  small  point,  is  the  "  Gillott 
192  "  —  a  good  pen  with  a  fairly  large  range  ; 
and,  for  any  others  than  the  smooth  papers,  a 
pen  smaller  than  this  will  probably  be  found 


i4  PEN    DRAWING 

undesirable  for  general  use.  A  shade  big- 
ger than  this  is  the  "  Gillott  303,"  a  very  good 
average  size.  Neither  of  these  two  possesses 
the  sensitiveness  of  those  previously  men- 
tioned, but  for  work  demanding  more  or  less 
uniformity  of  line  they  will  be  found  more 
satisfactory.  The  smaller  points  are  liable 
to  lead  one  into  the  quagmire  of  finicalness. 
When  we  get  beyond  the  next  in  size,  the 
"Gillott  404,"  there  is  nothing  about  the  coarse 
steel  points  to  especially  commend  them  for 
artistic  use.  They  are  usually  stupid,  un- 
reliable affairs,  whose  really  valuable  existence 
is  about  fifteen  working  minutes.  For  deco- 
rative drawing  the  ordinary  commercial  "stub" 
will  be  found  a  very  satisfactory  instrument. 
Of  course  one  may  use  several  sizes  of  pens  in 
the  same  drawing,  and  it  is  often  necessary  to 
do  so. 

Before  leaving  the  steel  pens,  the  "  double- 
line  pen''  may  be  mentioned,  though  it  has  only 
a  limited  sphere.  It  is  a  two-pointed  arrange- 
ment, practically  two  pens  in  one,  by  means  of 
which  parallel  lines  may  be  made  with  one 
stroke.  Rather  interesting  effects  can  be  ob- 
tained with  it,  but  on  the  whole  it  is  most  val- 
uable as  a  curiosity.  Though  somewhat  out  of 
fashion  for  general  use,  the  quill  of  our  fathers 
is  favored  by  many  illustrators.  It  is  splen- 
didly adapted  for  broad,  vigorous  rendering  of 
foreground  effects,  and  is  almost  dangerously 


MATERIALS  15 

easy  to  handle.  Reed  pens,  which  have  some- 
what similar  virtues,  are  now  little  employed, 
and  cannot  be  bought.  They  have  to  be  cut 
from  the  natural  reed,  and  used  while  fresh. 
For  many  uses  in  decorative  drawing  one  of 
the  most  satisfactory  instruments  is  the  glass 
pen,  which  gives  an  absolutely  uniform  line. 
The  point  being  really  the  end  of  a  thin  tube, 
the  stroke  may  be  made  in  any  direction,  a 
most  unique  characteristic  in  a  pen.  It  has, 
however,  the  disadvantages  of  being  friable  and 
expensive  ;  and,  as  it  needs  to  be  kept  clean, 
the  patent  water-proof  ink  should  not  be  used 
with  it  unless  absolutely  necessary.  A  flat 
piece  of  cork  or  rubber  should  be  placed  in- 
side the  ink-bottle  when  this  pen  is  used,  other- 
wise it  is  liable  to  be  smashed  by  striking  the 
bottom  of  the  bottle.  The  faculty  possessed 
by  the  Japanese  brush  of  retaining  its  point 
renders  it  also  available  for  use  as  a  pen,  and 
it  is  often  so  employed. 

In  drawing  for  reproduction,  the  best  ink  is  inks 
that  which  is  blackest  and  least  shiny.  Until 
a  few  years  ago  it  was  the  custom  of  penmen 
to  grind  their  India  ink  themselves  ;  but,  be- 
sides the  difficulty  of  always  ensuringtheproper 
consistency,  it  was  a  cumbersome  method,  and 
is  now  little  resorted  to,  especially  as  numerous 
excellent  prepared  inks  are  ready  to  hand.  The 
better  known  of  these  prepared  inks  are,  "  Hig- 
gins'  American "  (general  and  waterproof), 


16  PEN    DRAWING 

Bourgeois'  "Encre  de  Chine  Liquide,"  "Car- 
ter's," "  Winsor  &f  Newton's,"  and  "  Row- 
ney's."  Higgins'  and  Carter's  have  the  ex- 
trinsic advantages  of  being  put  up  in  bottles 
which  do  not  tip  over  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation, and  of  being  furnished  with  stoppers 
which  can  be  handled  without  smearing  the 
fingers.  Otherwise,  they  cannot  be  said  to 
possess  superiority  over  the  others,  certainly 
not  over  the  "  Encre  de  Chine  Liquide." 
Should  the  student  have  occasion  to  draw  over 
salt-prints  he  will  find  it  wise  to  use  water- 
proof ink,  as  the  bleaching  acid  which  is  used 
to  fade  the  photographic  image  may  otherwise 
cause  the  ink  to  run. 

Bristol-board  is  probably  the  most  popular 
of  all  surfaces  for  pen  drawing.  It  is  certainly 
that  most  approved  by  the  process  engraver, 
whose  point  of  view  in  such  a  matter,  though 
a  purely  mechanical  one,  is  worthy  of  consid- 
eration. It  has  a  perfectly  smooth  surface, 
somewhat  difficult  to  erase  from  with  rubber, 
and  which  had  better  be  scratched  with  a  knife 
when  any  considerable  erasure  is  necessary. 
As  the  cheap  boards  are  merely  a  padding 
veneered  on  either  side  with  a  thin  coating  of 
smooth  paper,  little  scraping  is  required  to 
develop  a  fuzzy  surface  upon  which  it  is  impos- 
sible to  work.  Only  the  best  board,  such  as 
Reynolds',  therefore,  should  be  used.  Bristol- 
board  can  be  procured  in  sheets  of  various 
thicknesses  as  well  as  in  blocks. 


MATERIALS  17 

Whatman's  "  hot-pressed "  paper  affords 
another  excellent  surface  and  possesses  some 
advantages  over  the  Bristol-board.  It  comes 
in  sheets  of  various  sizes,  which  may  be  either 
tacked  down  on  a  board  or  else  "  stretched." 
Tacking  will  be  satisfactory  enough  if  the  draw- 
ing is  small  and  is  to  be  completed  in  a  few 
hours  ;  otherwise  the  paper  is  sure  to  "hump 
up,"  especially  if  the  weather  be  damp.  The 
process  of  stretching  is  as  follows:  Fold  up  the 
edges  of  the  sheet  all  around,  forming  a  margin 
about  an  inch  wide.  After  moistening  the  pa- 
per thoroughly  with  a  damp  sponge,  cover  the 
under  side  of  this  turned-up  marginwith  photo- 
graphic paste  or  strong  mucilage.  During  this 
operation  the  sheet  will  have  softened  and 
"humped  up,"  and  will  admit  of  stretching. 
Now  turn  down  the  adhesive  margin  and  press 
it  firmly  with  the  fingers,  stretching  the  paper 
gently  at  the  same  time.  As  this  essential 
part  of  the  process  must  be  performed  quickly, 
an  assistant  is  requisite  when  the  sheet  is  large. 
Care  should  be  taken  that  the  paper  is  not 
strained  too  much,  as  it  is  then  likely  to  burst 
when  it  again  contracts. 

Although  generally  employed  for  water- 
color  drawing,  Whatman's  "cold-pressed"  pa- 
per has  some  advantages  as  a  pen  surface. 
Slightly  roughish  in  texture,  it  gives  an  inter- 
esting broken  line,  which  is  at  times  desirable. 

A  peculiar  paper    which    has    considerable 


i8  PEN    DRAWING 

vogue,  especially  in  France  and  England,  is 
what  is  known  as  "clay-board."  Its  surface 
is  composed  of  China  clay,  grained  in  various 
ways,  the  top  of  the  grain  being  marked  with 
fine  black  lines  which  give  a  gray  tone  to  the 
paper,  darker  or  lighter  according  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  pattern.  This  tone  provides  the 
middle-tint  for  the  drawing.  By  lightly  scrap- 
ing with  a  sharp  penknife  or  scratcher,  before 
or  after  the  pen  work  is  done,  a  more  delicate 
gray  tone  may  be  obtained,  while  vigorous 
scraping  will  produce  an  absolute  white.  With 
the  pen  work  added,  it  will  be  seen  that  a  good 
many  values  are  possible ;  and,  if  the  drawing 
be  not  reduced  more  than  one-third,  it  will 
print  excellently.  The  grain,  running  as  it 
does  in  straight  lines,  offers  a  good  deal  of  ob- 
struction to  the  pen,  however,  so  that  a  really 
good  line  is  impossible. 

Thin  letter-paper  is  sometimes  recommend- 
ed for  pen  and  ink  work,  chiefly  on  account  of 
its  transparency,  which  obviates  the  necessity 
of  re-drawing  after  a  preliminary  sketch  has 
been  worked  up  in  pencil.  Over  the  pencil 
study  a  sheet  of  the  letter-paper  is  placed  on 
which  the  final  drawing  may  be  made  with 
much  deliberation.  Bond  paper,  however, 
possesses  the  similar  advantage  of  transparency 
besides  affording  a  better  texture  for  the  pen. 


CHAPTER  III 
TECHNIQUE 

The  first   requirement  of   a  good  pen  tech- 
nique is    a  good  Individual    Line,  a  line  of  _  Jbe. 

r     \.  IT  T  11     '  •         Individual 

reeling  and  quality.  It  is  usually  a  surprise  UM 
to  the  beginner  to  be  made  aware  that  the  in- 
dividual line  is  a  thing  of  consequence, — a 
surprise  due,  without  doubt,  to  the  apparently 
careless  methods  of  some  successful  illustra- 
tors. It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  however, 
that  some  illustrators  are  successful  in  spite 
of  their  technique  rather  than  because  of  it ; 
and  also  that  the  apparently  free  and  easy 
manner  of  some  admirable  technicians  is  in 
reality  very  much  studied,  very  deliberate, 
and  not  at  all  to  be  confounded  with  the 
unsophisticated  scribbling  of  the  beginner. 
The  student  is  apt  to  find  it  just  about  as 
easy  to  draw  like  Mr.  Pennell  as  to  write  like 
Mr.  Kipling.  The  best  way  to  acquire  such 
a  superb  freedom  is  to  be  very,  very  careful 
and  painstaking.  To  appreciate  how  beauti- 
ful the  individual  line  may  be  one  has  but  to 
observe  the  rich,  decorative  stroke  of  Howard 
Pyle,  Fig.  66,  or  that  of  Mucha,  Fig.  65,  the 
tender  outline  of  Boutet  de  Monvel,  the  tell- 


2O 


PEN    DRAWING 


of 
Line 


FIG.   6 


B.  G.  GOODHUE 


Copyright  iSgc)  by  the  Life  Publishing  Company 


ing,  masterly  sweep  of  Gibson,  or  the  short, 
crisp  line  of  Vierge  or  Rico.  Compared  with 
any  of  these  the  line  of  the  beginner  will  be 
either  feeble  and  tentative,  or  harsh,  wiry,  and 
coarse. 

The  second  requisite  is  Variety  of  Line, — 
not  merely  variety  of  size  and  direction,  but, 
since  each  line  ought  to  exhibit  a  feeling  for 
the  particular  texture  which  it  is  contributing 
tp  express,  variety  of  character.  Mr.  Gib- 
bon's manner  of  placing  very  delicate  gray 
lines  against  a  series  of  heavy  black  strokes 
exemplifies  some  of  the  possibilities  of  such 
variety.  Observe,  in  Fig.  6,  what  significance 
is  imparted  to  the  heavy  lines  on  the  roof  of 


FIG. 


HERBERT   RAILTON 


22  PEN    DRAWING 

the  little  foreground  building  by  the  foil  of 
delicate  gray  lines  in  the  sky  and  surrounding 
roofs.  This  conjunction  was  employed  early 
by  Mr.  Herbert  Railton,  who  has  made  a 
beautiful  use  of  it  in  his  quaint  architectural 
subjects.  Mr.  Railton's  technique  is  remark- 
able also  for  the  varied  direction  of  line  and 
its  expression  of  texture.  Note  this  charac- 
teristic in  his  drawing  of  buttresses,  Fig.  7. 
Economy  The  third  element  of  good  technique  is 
-X  ,  Economy  and  Directness  of  Method.  A  tone 

Method      ,..,*•«,.,  r          i  r 

should  not  be  built  up  or  a  lot  or  meaning- 
less strokes.  Each  line  ought,  sensibly  and 
directly,  to  contribute  to  the  ultimate  result. 
The  old  mechanical  process  of  constructing 
tones  by  cross-hatching  is  now  almost  obso- 
lete. It  is  still  employed  by  modern  pen 
draughtsmen,  but  it  is  only  one  of  many  re- 
sources, and  is  used  with  nice  discrimination. 
At  times  a  cross-hatch  is  very  desirable  and 
very  effective, — as,  for  example,  in  affording  a 
subdued  background  for  figures  having  small, 
high  lights.  A  very  pretty  use  of  it  is  seen 
in  the  tower  of  Mr.  Goodhue's  drawing,  Fig. 
8.  Observe  here  how  the  intimate  treatment 
of  the  roofs  is  enhanced  and  relieved  by  the 
foil  of  closely-knit  hatch  on  the  tower-wall, 
and  how  effective  is  the  little  area  of  it  at  the 
base  of  the  spire.  The  cross-hatch  also  af- 
fords a  satisfactory  method  of  obtaining  deep, 
quiet  shadows.  See  the  archway  "  B  "  in  Fig.  9. 


Xir- 


FIG.    8 


G.    GOODHUE 


PEN    DRAWING 


FIG.   9 


C.    D.    M. 


On  the  whole,  however,  the  student  is  ad- 
vised to  accustom  himself  to  a  very  sparing 
use  of  this  expedient.  Compare  the  two  ef- 
fects in  Fig.  9.  Some  examples  of  good  and 
bad  cross-hatching  are  illustrated  in  Fig.  10. 
Those  marked  "I"  and  "J"  may  be  set 
down  as  bad,  being  too  coarse.  The  only 
satisfactory  cross-hatch  at  a  large  scale  would 
seem  to  be  that  shown  in  "  N,"  where  lines 
cross  at  a  sharp  angle ;  and  this  variety  is 
effectively  employed  by  figure  illustrators. 
Perhaps  no  better  argument  against  the  ne- 
cessity for  thus  building  up  tones  could  be 
adduced  than  the  little  drawing  by  Martin 
Rico,  shown  in  Fig.  n.  Notice  what  a 
beautiful  texture  he  gives  to  the  shadow  where 


FIG.    I 


MARTIN   RICO 


T  E  C  H  N  I  QJJ  E  27 

it  falls  on  the  street,  how  it  differs  from  that 
on  the  walls,  how  deep  and  closely  knit  it  all 
is,  and  yet  that  there  is  absolutely  no  cross- 
hatching.  Remark,  also,  how  the  textures  of 
the  walls  and  roof  and  sky  are  obtained. 
The  student  would  do  well  to  copy  such  a 
drawing  as  this,  or  a  portion  of  it,  at  least,  on 
a  larger  scale,  as  much  can  be  learned  from  it. 

I  have  shown  various  methods  of  making  Methods 
a  tone  in  Fig.  12.  It  will  be  observed  that  °^^~ 
Rico's  shadow,  in  Fig.  11,  is  made  up  of  a 
combination  of  "  B  "  and  "  C,"  except  that  he 
uses  "  B  "•  horizontally,  and  makes  the  line 
heavy  and  dragging.  The  clear,  crisp  shadows 
of  Vierge  are  also  worthy  of  study  for  the  sim- 
plicity of  method.  This  is  beautifully  illus- 
trated in  the  detail,  Fig.  13.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  suggest  atmosphere  more  vi- 
brating with  sunlight ;  a  result  due  to  the 
transparency  of  the  shadows,  the  lines  of 
which  are  sharp  and  clean,  with  never  a  sug- 
gestion of  cross-hatch.  Notice  how  the  lines 
of  the  architectural  shadows  are  stopped  ab- 
ruptly at  times,  giving  an  emphasis  which  adds 
to  the  brilliancy  of  the  effect.  The  drawing  of 
the  buildings  on  the  canal,  by  Martin  Rico, 
Fig.  14,  ought  also  to  be  carefully  studied  in 
this  connection.  Observe  how  the  shadow- 
lines  in  this  drawing,  as  in  that  previously 
mentioned,  are  made  to  suggest  the  direction 
of  the  sunlight,  which  is  high  in  the  heavens. 


\ 


FIG.    I  3 


DANIEL   VIERCE 


32 


PEN    DRAWING 


16 


LESLIE  WILLSON 


An  example  of  all  that  is  refined  and  excellent 
in  pen  technique  is  the  drawing  by  Mr.  Alfred 
Brennan,  Fig.  15.  The  student  would  do 


T  E  C  H  N  I  Q_U  E  33 

well  to  study  this  carefully  for  its  marvellous 
beauty  of  line.  There  is  little  hatching,  and 
yet  the  tones  are  deep  and  rich.  The  wall 
tone  will  be  found  to  be  made  up  similarly  to 
"  A  "  and  "  H  "  in  Fig.  12.  The  tone  "  B  "  in 
the  same  Figure  is  made  up  of  lines  which  are 
thin  at  the  ends  and  big  in  the  middle,  fitting 
into  each  other  irregularly,  and  imparting  a 
texture  somewhat  different  from  that  obtained 
by  the  abrupt  ending  of  the  strokes  of  "  A." 
This  method  is  also  employed  by  Brennan> 
and  is  a  very  effective  one.  A  good  example 
of  the  use  of  this  character  of  line  (unknitted, 
however)  is  the  drawing  by  Mr.  Leslie  Will- 
son,  Fig.  1 6.  The  irregular  line  "  C  ':>  has 
good  possibilities  for  texture,  and  the  wavy 
character  of  "  D  "  'is  most  effective  in  the 
rendering  of  shadows,  giving  a  certain  vibra- 
tion to  the  atmosphere.  "  E  "  and  "  F  "  sug- 
gest a  freer  method  of  rendering  a  tone  ;  while 
"  G  "  shows  a  scribbling  line  that  is  some- 
times employed  to  advantage.  The  very  in- 
teresting texture  of  the  coat,  Fig.  17,  is  made 
with  a  horizontal  line  having  a  similar  return 
stroke,  as  may  be  noticed  where  the  rendering 
ends.  There  are  times  when  an  irresponsible 
sort  of  line  is  positively  desirable, — say  for 
rough  foreground  suggestion  or  for  freeing 
the  picture  at  the  edges. 

I  have  invariably  found  that  what  presents 
the   chief  difficulty  to  the  student  of  pen  and 


34 


PEN    DRAWING 


FIG.     I/  DRAWING   FROM    PHOTOGRAPH 

From  Harper's  Magaxine,  by  permission.      Copyright,  l8()2,  by  Harper  Sr"  Brothers 

ink  is  the  management  of  the  Outline.  When 
Outline  it  is  realized  that,  by  mere  outline,  one  may 
express  the  texture  of  a  coat  or  a  tree  or  a  wall 
without  any  rendering  whatever,  it  will  be  seen 
that  nothing  in  pen  drawing  is  really  of  so 
much  importance.  Notice,  for  example,  the 
wonderful  drawing  of  the  dog  in  Fig.  34. 
Again,  if  a  connected  line  had  been  used  to 
define  the  corners  of  Railton's  buttresses  in 
Fig.  7  all  the  texture  would  have  been  de- 


T  E  C  H  N  I  Q_U  E  35 

stroyed.  Instead  of  this  he  has  used  a  broken 
outline,  sometimes  omitting  it  altogether  for 
a  considerable  space.  On  the  ledges,  too,  the 
lines  are  broken.  In  Rico's  drawing,  Fig.  n, 
all  the  outlines  may  be  observed  to  have  a 
break  here  and  there.  This  broken  line  is  par- 
ticularly effective  in  out-door  subjects,  as  it 
helps  to  suggest  sunlit  atmosphere  as  well  as 
texture. 

Architectural  outlines,  however,  are  not 
particularly  subtle ;  it  is  when  we  come  to 
render  anything  with  vague  boundaries,  such 
as  foliage  or  clouds  for  example,  that  the  chief 
difficulties  are  encountered.  Foliage  is  an 
important  element  of  landscape  drawing  and 
deserves  more  than  passing  consideration.  To 
make  a  successful  rendering  of  a  tree  in  pen 
and  ink  the  tree  must  be  first  well  drawn  in  pen- 
cil. It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  obtain  such 
a  charming  effect  of  foliage  as  that  shown  in 
Mr.  Pennell's  sketch,  Fig.  18,  without  the 
most  painstaking  preparation  in  pencil.  The 
success  of  this  result  is  not  attributable  mere- 
ly to  the  difference  in  textures,  nor  to  the  di- 
rection or  character  of  the  line ;  it  is  first  of 
all  a  matter  of  good  drawing.  The  outline 
should  be  free  and  subtle  so  as  to  suggest 
the  edges  of  leafage,  and  the  holes  near  the 
edges  should  be  accented,  otherwise  they  will 
be  lost  and  the  tree  will  look  solid  and  char- 
acterless. Observe,  in  the  same  drawing,  how 


TECHNIQUE 


37 


FIG.    19 


JOSEPH   PENNELL 


Mr.  Pennell  sug- 
gests the  structure 
of  the  leafage  by 
the  irregular  out- 
lines which  he  gives 
to  the  different  se- 
ries of  lines,  and 
which  he  empha- 
sizes by  bringing 
the  lines  to  an 
abrupt  stop.  Ob- 
serve also  how  the 
stronger  texture  of 
the  tree  in  Fig.  19 
is  obtained  by  mak- 
ing the  lines  with  greater  abruptness.  Com- 
pare both  of  these  Figures  with  the  fore- 
ground trees  by  the  same  artist  in  Fig.  20. 
The  last  is  a  brilliant  example  of  foliage  draw- 
ing in  pen  and  ink 

The  matter  of  Textures  is  very  important, 
and  the  student  should  learn  to  differentiate 
them  as  much  as  possible.  This  is  done,  as  I 
have  already  said,  by  differences  in  the  size 
and  character  of  the  line,  and  in  the  closeness 
or  openness  of  the  rendering.  Observe  the 
variety  of  textures  in  the  drawing  of  the 
sculptor  by  Dan  tan,  Fig.  21.  The  coat  is 
rendered  by  such  a  cross-hatch  as  "N"  in  Fig. 
10,  made  horizontally  and  with  heavy  lines. 
In  the  trousers  the  lines  do  not  cross  but  fit  in 


Textures 


FIG.    20 

From  Harper'' s  Magaxine,  by 


JOSEPH    PENNELL 

Copyright,  l8Q3,  by  Harper  &  Brothers 


TECHNIQUE 


39 


together.  This 
is  an  excellent 
example  for 
study,  as  is  also 
the  portrait  by 
Raffaelli,  Fig. 
22.  The  tex- 
tures in  the  lat- 
ter drawing  are 
wonderfullywell 
conveyed,— the 
hard,  boriy  face, 
the  stubby 
beard,  and  the 
woolen  cap  with 
its  tassel  in  sil- 
houette. For 
the  expression 
of  texture  with 
the  least  effort 
the  drawings  of 
Vierge  are  in- 
comparable. 
The  architec- 
tural drawing  by 
Mr.  Gregg  in 
Fig.  50  is  well 
worth  careful 
study  in  this 
connection,  as 
are  all  of  H er- 


ne. 21 


E.    DA  NT  AN 


4o 


PEN    DRAWING 


FIG.    22 


J.    F.    RAFFAELLl 

bert  Railton's  admirable  drawings  of  old  Eng- 
lish houses.  (I  recommend  the  study  of  Mr. 
Railton's  work  with  a  good  deal  of  reser- 
vation, however.  While  it  is  admirable  in 
respect  of  textures  and  fascinating  in  its  col- 
or, the  values  are  likely  to  be  mo*st  unreal, 


TECHNIQUE  41 

and  the  mannerisms  are  so  pronounced  and 
so  tiresome  that  I  regard  it  as  much  inferior 
to  that  of  Mr.  Pennell,  whose  architecture  al- 
ways appears,  at  least,  to  have  been  honestly 
drawn  on  the  spot.) 

The  hats  in  Fig.  10  are  merely  suggestions 
to  the  student  in  the  study  of  elementary 
combinations  of  line  in  expressing  textures. 

As  the  mechanical  processes  of  Reproduc-  Drawing 
tion  have  much  to  do  with  determining  pen  Rep^uction 
methods  they  become  important  factors  for 
consideration.  While  their  waywardness  and 
inflexibility  are  the  cause  of  no  little  distress 
to  the  illustrator,  the  limitations  of  processes 
cannot  be  said,  on  the  whole,  to  make  for  in- 
ferior standards  in  drawing,  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  following  rules  which  they  impose,  and  for 
which  a  strict  regard  will  be  found  most  advis- 
able. 

First :  Make  each  line  clear  and  distinct. 
Do  not  patch  up  a  weak  line  or  leave  one  which 
has  been  broken  or  blurred  by  rubbing,  for  how- 
ever harmless  or  even  interesting  it  may  seem 
in  your  original  it  will  almost  certainly  be 
neither  in  the  reproduction.  When  you  make 
mistakes,  erase  the  offensive  part  completely, 
or,  if  you  are  working  on  Bristol-board  and 
the  area  of  unsatisfactoriness  be  considerable, 
paste  a  fresh  piece  of  paper  over  it  and  re- 
draw. 

Second  :   Keep  your  work  open.      Aim  for 


42  PEN    DRAWING 

economy  of  line.  If  a  shadow  can  be  rendered 
with  twenty  strokes  do  not  crowd  in  forty,  as 
you  will  endanger  its  transparency.  Remem- 
ber that  in  reproduction  the  lines  tend  to 
thicken  and  so  to  crowd  out  the  light  between 
them.  This  is  so  distressingly  true  of  news- 
paper reproduction  that  in  drawings  for  this 
purpose  the  lines  have  to  be  generally  very 
thin,  sharp,  and  well  apart.  The  above  rule 
should  be  particularly  regarded  in  all  cases 
where  the  drawing  is  to  be  subject  to  much 
reduction.  The  degree  of  reduction  of  which 
pen  drawings  are  susceptible  is  not,  as  is  com- 
monly supposed,  subject  to  rule.  It  all  de- 
pends on  the  scale  of  the  technique. 

Third:  Have  the  values  few  and  positive. 
It  is  necessary  to  keep  the  gray  tones  pretty 
distinct  to  prevent  the  relation  of  values  being 
injured,  for  while  the  gray  tones  darken  in 
proportion  to  the  degree  of  reduction,  the 
blacks  cannot,  of  course,  grow  blacker.  A 
gray  tone  which  may  be  light  and  delicate  in 
the  original,  will,  especially  if  it  be  closely  knit, 
darken  and  thicken  in  the  printing.  These 
rules  are  most  strictly  to  be  observed  when 
drawing  for  the  cheaper  classes  of  publications. 
For  book  and  magazine  work,  however,  where 
the  plates  are  touched  up  by  the  engraver,  and 
the  values  in  a  measure  restored,  the  third  rule 
is  not  so  arbitrary.  Nevertheless,  the  begin- 
ner who  has  ambitions  in  this  direction  will 


TECHNIQUE  43 

do  well  not  to  put  difficulties  in  his  own  way 
by  submitting  work  not  directly  printable. 

There  are  a  number  of  more  or  less  fanciful    Fsa°™fu, 
expedients    employed    in    modern    pen   work  Expedients 
which  may  be  noted  here,  and  which  are  illus- 
trated in   Fig.    10.     The   student  is  advised, 
however,  to  resort  to  them  as  little  as  possi- 
ble, not  only  because  he  is  liable  to  make  in- 
judicious use  of  them,  but  because  it  is  wiser 
for  him  to  cultivate  the  less  meretricious  pos- 
sibilities of  the  instrument. 

"  Spatter  work  "  is  a  means  of  obtaining  a 
delicate  printable  tone,  consisting  of  innumer- 
able little  dots  of  ink  spattered  on  the  paper. 
The  process  is  as  follows :  Carefully  cover 
with  a  sheet  of  paper  all  the  drawing  except 
the  portion  which  is  to  be  spattered,  then  take 
a  tooth-brush,  moisten  the  ends  of  the  bristles 
consistently  with  ink,  hold  the  brush,  back 
downwards,  in  the  left  hand,  and  with  a  wooden 
match  or  tooth-pick  rub  the  bristles  toward 
you  so  that  the  ink  will  spray  over  the  paper. 
Particular  care  must  be  taken  that  the  brush 
is  not  so  loaded  with  ink  that  it  will  spatter 
in  blots.  It  is  well,  therefore,  to  try  it  first 
on  a  rough  sheet  of  paper,  to  remove  any  su- 
perfluous ink.  If  the  spattering  is  well  done, 
it  gives  a  very  delicate  tone  of  interesting 
texture,  but  if  not  cleverly  employed,  and  es- 
pecially if  there  be  a  large  area  of  it,  it  is  very 
likely  to  look  out  of  character  with  the  line 
portions  of  the  drawing. 


44  PEN    DRAWING 

A  method  sometimes  employed  to  give  a 
soft  black  effect  is  to  moisten  the  lobe  of  the 
thumb  lightly  with  ink  and  press  it  upon  the 
paper.  The  series  of  lines  of  the  skin  make 
an  impression  that  can  be  reproduced  by  the 
ordinary  line  processes.  As  in  the  case  of 
spatter  work,  superfluous  ink  must  be  looked 
after  before  making  the  impression  so  as  to 
avoid  leaving  hard  edges.  Thumb  markings 
lend  themselves  to  the  rendering  of  dark 
smoke,  and  the  like,  where  the  edges  require 
to  be  soft  and  vague,  and  the  free  direction  of 
the  lines  impart  a  feeling  of  movement. 

Interesting  effects  of  texture  are  sometimes 
introduced  into  pen  drawings  by  obtaining 
the  impression  of  a  canvas  grain.  To  produce 
this,  it  is  necessary  that  the  drawing  be  made 
on  fairly  thin  paper.  The  modus  operandi  is  as 
follows :  Place  the  drawing  over  a  piece  of 
mounted  canvas  of  the  desired  coarseness  of 
grain,  and,  holding  it  firmly,  rub  a  lithographic 
crayon  vigorously  over  the  surface  of  the 
paper.  The  grain  of  the  canvas  will  be  found 
to  be  clearly  reproduced,  and,  as  the  crayon  is 
absolutely  black,  the  effect  is  capable  of  repro- 
duction by  the  ordinary  photographic  proc- 
esses. 


CHAPTER    IV 


VALUES 

After  the  subject  has  been  mapped  out  in  pen- 
cil, and  before  beginning  the  pen  work,  we 
have  to  consider  and  determine  the  proper  dis- 
position  of  the  Color.  By  "color"  is  meant, 
in  this  connection,  the  gamut  of  values  from 
black  to  white,  as  indicated  in  Fig.  23.  The 
success  or  failure  of  the  drawing  will  largely 
depend  upon  the  disposition  of  these 
elements,  the  quality  of  the  tech- 
nique being  a  matter  of  secondary 
concern.  Beauty  of  line  and  texture 
will  not  redeem  a  drawing  in  which 
the  values  are  badly  disposed,  for 
upon  them  we  depend  for  the  effect 
of  unity,  or  the  pictorial  quality. 
If  the  values  are  scattered  or  patchy 
the  drawing  will  not  focus  to  any 
central  point  of  interest,  and  there 
will  be  no  unity  in  the  result. 
Fic.a3  C.D.M.  There  are  certain  general  laws  by 
which  color  may  be  pleasingly  disposed,  but  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  ought  to  be 
disposed  naturally  as  well.  By  a  "  natural  " 
scheme  of  color,  I  mean  one  which  is  consis- 


The 


46 


PEN    DRAWING 


tent  with  a  natural  effect 
of  light  and  shade.  Now 
the  gradation  from  black 
to  white,  for  example,  is  a 
pleasing  scheme,  as  may 
be  observed  in  Fig.  24, 
yet  the  effect  is  unnatu- 
ral, since  the  sky  is  black. 
In  a  purely  decorative  il- 
lustration like  this,  how- 
ever, such  logic  need  not 
be  considered. 


FIG.    24  D.  A.   GREGG 


Principality 
in  the 


Since,  as  I  said  before,  color  is  the  factor 
Coior~&beme  wnicn  niakes  for  the  unity  of  the  result,  the 
first  principle  to  be  regarded  in  its  arrangement 
is  that  of  Principality, —  there  must  be  some 
dominant  note  in  the  rendering.  There  should 
not,  for  instance,  be  two  principal  dark  spots 
of  equal  value  in  the  same  drawing,  nor  two 
equally  prominent  areas  of  white.  The  Vierge 
drawing,  Fig.  25,  and  that  by  Mr.  Pennell,  Fig. 
5,  are  no  exceptions  to  this  rule  ;  the  black  fig- 
ure of  the  old  man  counting  as  one  note  in  the 
former,  as  do  the  dark  arches  of  the  bridge  in 
the  latter.  The  work  of  both  these  artists  is 
eminently  worthy  of  study  for  the  knowing 
manner  in  which  they  dispose  their  values. 
variety  The  next  thing  to  be  sought  is  Variety. 
Too  obvious  or  positive  a  scheme,  while  pos- 
sibly not  unsuitable  for  a  conventional  deco- 
rative drawing,  may  not  be  well  adapted  to  a 


VALUES 


47 


FIG.    25 


DANIEL  VIERGE 


perspective  subject.  The  large  color  areas 
should  be  echoed  by  smaller  ones  throughout 
the  picture.  Take,  for  example,  the  Vierge 
drawing  shown  in  Fig.  16.  Observe  how  the 
mass  of  shadow  is  relieved  by  the  two  light 
holes  seen  through  the  inn  door.  Without 


48 


PEN    DRAWING 


26 


DANIEL  VIERCE 


this  repetition  of  the  white  the  drawing  would 
lose  much  of  its  character.  In  Rico's  drawing, 
Fig.  n,  a  tiny  white  spot  in  the  shadow  cast 
over  the  street  would,  I  venture  to  think, 
be  helpful,  beautifully  clear  as  it  is;  and  the 
black  area  at  the  end  of  the  wall  seems  a  defect 
as  it  competes  in  value  with  the  dark  figure. 


VALUES 


49 


Lastly,  Breadth  of  Effect  has  to  be  consid- 
ered.     It  is  requisite  that,  however  numerous  Breadth 
the  tones  are  (and  they  should  not  be  too  nu-    ^J 
merous),  the  general  effect  should  be  simple 
and  homogeneous.     The  color  must  count  to- 
gether broadly,  and  not  be  cut  up  into  patches. 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  gamut 
from  black  to  white  is  a  short  one  for  the  pen. 
One  need  only  try  to  faithfully  render  the  high 
lights  of  an. ordinary  table  glass  set  against  a 
gray  background,  to  be  assured  of  its  limi- 
tations in  this  re- 
spect. To  represent 
even  approximate- 
ly the  subtle  values 
would  require  so 
much  ink  that 
nothing  short  of  a 
positively  black 
background  would 
suffice  to  give  a 
semblance  of  the 
delicate  transparent 
effect  of  the  glass  as 
a  whole.  The  gray 
background  would, 
therefore,  be  lost, 
and  if  a  really  black 
object  were  also 
part  of  the  picture 
it  could  not  be  rep- 


FIG.   27 


HARRY   FENN 


50  PEN    DRAWING 

resented  at  all.  Observe,  in  Fig.  27,  how  just 
such  a  problem  has  been  worked  out  by  Mr. 
Harry  Fenn. 

It  will  be  manifest  that  the  student  must 
learn  to  think  of  things  in  their  broad  rela- 
tion. To  be  specific, —  in  the  example  just 
considered,  in  order  to  introduce  a  black  ob- 
ject the  scheme  of  color  would  have  needed 
broadening  so  that  the  gray  background  could 
be  given  its  proper  value,  thus  demanding 
that  the  elaborate  values  of  the  glass  be  ig- 
nored, and  just  enough  suggested  to  give  the 
general  effect.  This  reasoning  would  equally 
apply  were  the  light  object,  instead  of  a  glass, 
something  of  intricate  design,  presenting  posi- 
tive shadows.  Just  so  much  of  such  a  design 
should  be  rendered  as  not  to  darken  the  ob- 
ject below  its  proper  relative  value  as  a  whole. 
In  this  faculty  of  suggesting  things  without 
literally  rendering  them  consists  the  subtlety 
of  pen  drawing. 

It  may  be  said,  therefore,  that  large  light 
areas  resulting  from  the  necessary  elimination 
of  values  are  characteristic  of  pen  drawing. 
The  degree  of  such  elimination  depends,  of 
course,  upon  the  character  of  the  subject,  this 
being  entirely  a  matter  of  relation.  The  more 
black  there  is  in  a  drawing  the  greater  the 
number  of  values  that  can  be  represented. 
Generally  speaking,  three  or  four  are  all  that 
can  be  managed,  and  the  beginner  had  better 


VALUES 


FIG.    28 


REGINALD   BIRCH 


get  along  with  three, —  black,   half-tone,   and 
white. 

While  it  is  true  that  every  subject  is  likely  rarious 
to  contain  some  motive  or  suggestion  for  its  j£°£es 
appropriate  color-scheme,  it  still   holds  that, 
many    times,    and    especially    in    those    cases 
where  the  introduction  of  foreground  features 
at  considerable  scale  is  necessary  for  the  inter- 
est of  the  picture,  an  artificial  arrangement  has 
to  be  devised.     It  is  well,  therefore,  to  be  ac- 
quainted with  the  possibilities  of  certain  color 


52  PEN    DRAWING 

combinations.  The  most  brilliant  effect  in 
black  and  white  drawing  is  that  obtained  by 
placing  the  prominent  black  against  a  white 
area  surrounded  by  gray.  The  white  shows 
whiter  because  of  the  gray  around  it,  so  that 
the  contrast  of  the  black  against  it  is  extremely 
vigorous  and  telling.  This  may  be  said  to  be 
the  illustrator's  tour  de  force.  We  have  it  il- 
lustrated by  Mr.  Reginald  Birch's  drawing, 
Fig.  28.  Observe  how  the  contrast  of  black 
and  white  is  framed  in  by  the  gray  made  up  of 
the  sky,  the  left  side  of  the  building,  the  horse, 
and  the  knight.  In  the  drawing  by  Mr.  Pen- 
nell,  Fig.  29,  we  have  the  same  scheme  of 
color.  Notice  how  the  trees  are  darkest  just 
where  they  are  required  to  tell  most  strongly 
against  the  white  in  the  centre  of  the  picture. 
An  admirable  illustration  of  the  effectiveness 
of  this  color-scheme  is  shown  in  the  "  Becket  " 
poster  by  the  "  Beggarstaff  Brothers,"  Fig.  69. 
Another  scheme  is  to  have  the  principal  black 
in  the  gray  area,  as  in  the  Vierge  drawing,  Fig. 
26,  and  in  Rico's  sketch,  Fig.  n. 

Still  another  and  a  more  restful  scheme  is 
the  actual  gradation  of  color.  This  gradation, 
from  black  to  white,  wherein  the  white  occu- 
pies the  centre  of  the  picture,  is  to  be  noted 
in  Fig.  20.  Observe  how  the  dark  side  of  the 
foreground  tree  tells  against  the  light  side  of 
the  one  beyond,  which,  in  its  turn,  is  yet  so 
strongly  shaded  as  to  count  brilliantly  against 


FIG.    30 


VALUES 


55 


FIG.    31 


JOSEPH     PENNELL 


the  white  building.  Still  again,  in  Mr.  Good- 
hue's  drawing,  Fig.  30,  note  how  the  transition 
from  the  black  tree  on  the  left  to  the  white 
building  is  pleasingly  softened  by  the  gray 
shadow.  Notice,  too,  how  the  brilliancy  of 
the  drawing  is  heightened  by  the  gradual  em- 
phasis on  the  shadows  and  the  openings  as 
they  approach  the  centre  of  the  picture.  Yet 
another  example  of  this  color-scheme  is  the 
drawing  by  Mr.  Gregg,  Fig.  50.  The  grada- 


56  PEN    DRAWING 

tion  here  is  from  the  top  of  the  picture  down- 
wards. The  sketch  of  the  coster  women  by 
Mr.  Pennell,  Fig.  31,  shows  this  gradation  re- 
versed. 

The  drawing  of  the  hansom  cab,  Fig.  32,  by 
Mr.  Raven  Hill,  illustrates  a  very  strong 
color-scheme, —  gray  and  white  separated  by 
black,  the.  gray  moderating  the  black  on  the 
upper  side,  leaving  it  to  tell  strongly  against 
the  white  below.  Notice  how  luminous  is 
this  same  relation  of  color  where  it  occurs  in 
the  Venetian  subject  by  Rico,  Fig.  14.  The 
shadow  on  the  water  qualifies  the  blackness  of 
the  gondola  below,  permitting  a  brilliant  con- 
trast with  the  white  walls  of  the  building  above. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  Vierge  and 
Pennell,  but  chiefly  the  former,  very  often  de- 
pend for  their  grays  merely  upon  the  delicate 
tone  resulting  from  the  rendering  of  form  and 
of  direct  shadow,  without  any  local  color.  This 
may  be  seen  in  the  Vierge  drawing,  Fig.  33. 
Observe  in  this,  as  a  consequence,  how  bril- 
liantly the  tiny  black  counts  in  the  little  figure 
in  the  centre.  Notice,  too,  in  the  drawing  of 
the  soldiers  by  Jeanniot,  Fig.  34,  that  there 
is  very  little  black;  and  yet  see  how  bril- 
liant is  the  effect,  owing  largely  to  the  figures 
being  permitted  to  stand  out  against  a  white 
ground  in  which  nothing  is  indicated  but  the 
sky-line  of  the  large  building  in  the  distance. 


FIG.    32 


L.    RAVEN   HILL 


M 

~«™»KjSfc 

> 


CHAPTER    V 


First 
Problem 


PRACTICAL    PROBLEMS 

I  have  thought  it  advisable  in  this  chapter  to 
select,  and  to  work  out  in  some  detail,  a  few 
actual  problems  in  illustration,  so  as  to  famil- 
iarize the  student  with  the  practical  applica- 
tion of  some  of  the  principles  previously  laid 
down. 

In  the  first  example  the   photograph,  Fig. 

35,  shows  the  porch  of  an  old  English  country 
church.     Let  us  see 

how  this  subject  has 
been  interpreted  in 
pen  and  ink  by  Mr. 
D.  A.  Gregg,  Fig. 

36.  In  respect  to 
the  lines,  the  orig- 
inal    composition 
presents     nothing 
essentially  unpleas- 
ant.     Where    the 
strong  accent  of  a 
picture  occurs  in  the 
centre,    however,  it 
is  generally  desira- 
ble  to   avoid    much 


pio> 


FROM  A  PHOTOCRAPH 


PRACTICAL   PROBLEMS       61 


FIG.   36 


D.   A.  GREGG 


emphasis  at  the 
edges.  For  this  rea- 
son the  pen  drawing 
has  been  "vignet- 
ted,"—  that  is  to 
say,  permitted  to  fade 
away  irregularly  at 
the  edges.  Regard- 
ing the  values,  it  will 
be  seen  that  there 
is  no  absolute  white 
in  the  photograph. 
A  literal  rendering 
of  such  low  color 


would,  as  we  saw  in  the  preceding  chapter,  be 
out  of  the  question;  and  so  the  essential  values 
which  directly  contribute  to  the  expression  of 
the  subject  and  which  are  independent  of  local 
color  or  accidental  effect  have  to  be  sought 
out.  We  observe,  then,  that  the  principal  note 
of  the  photograph  is  made  by  the  dark  part 
of  the  roof  under  the  porch  relieved  against 
the  light  wall  beyond.  This  is  the  direct  re- 
sult of  light  and  shade,  and  is  therefore  logic- 
ally adopted  as  the  principal  note  of  Mr. 
Gregg's  sketch  also.  The  wall  at  this  point 
is  made  perfectly  white  to  heighten  the  con- 
trast. To  still  further  increase  the  light  area, 
the  upper  part  of  the  porch  has  been  left  al- 
most white,  the  markings  suggesting  the  con- 
struction of  the  weather-beaten  timber  serving 


62  PEN    DRAWING 

to  give  it  a  faint  gray  tone  sufficient  to  relieve 
it  from  the  white  wall.  The  low  color  of  the 
grass,  were  it  rendered  literally,  would  make 
the  drawing  too  heavy  and  uninteresting,  and 
this  is  therefore  only  suggested  in  the  sketch. 
The  roof  of  the  main  building,  being  equally 
objectionable  on  account  of  its  mass  of  low 
tone,  is  similarly  treated.  Mr.  Gregg's  excel- 
lent handling  of  the  old  woodwork  of  the  porch 
is  well  worthy  of  study. 

Second  Let  us  take  another  example.  The  photo- 
m  graph  in  Fig.  37  shows  a  moat-house  in  Nor- 
mandy ;  and,  except  that  the  low  tones  of  the 
foliage  are  exaggerated  by  the  camera,  the  con- 
ditions are  practically  those  which  we  would 
have  to  consider  were  we  making  a  sketch  on 
the  spot.  First  of  all,  then,  does  the  subject, 
from  the  point  of  view  at  which  the  photograph 
is  taken,  compose  well  ?*  It  cannot  be  said 
that  it  does.  The  vertical  lines  made  by  the 
two  towers  are  unpleasantly  emphasized  by 
the  trees  behind  them.  The  tree  on  the  left 
were  much  better  reduced  in  height  and  placed 
somewhat  to  the  right,  so  that  the  top  should 
fill  out  the  awkward  angles  of  the  roof  formed 
by  the  junction  of  the  tower  and  the  main  build- 
ing. The  trees  on  the  right  might  be  lowered 
also,  but  otherwise  permitted  to  retain  their 
present  relation.  The  growth  of  ivy  on  the 

The  student  is  advised  to  consult  "Composition,"  by  Arthur  \V.  Dow. 
[New  York,  iSoS  ] 


PRACTICAL    PROBLEMS        63 


••37 


FROM   A   PHOTOGRAPH 


tower   takes   an   ugly  outline,  and   might   be 
made  more  interestingly  irregular  in  form. 

The  next  consideration  is  the  disposition 
of  the  values.  In  the  photograph  the  whites 
are  confined  to  the  roadway  of  the  bridge  and 


64  PEN    DRAWING 

the  bottom  of  the  tower.  This  is  evidently 
due,  however,  to  local  color  rather  than  to  the 
direction  of  the  light,  which  strikes  the  nearer 
tower  from  the  right,  the  rest  of  the  walls  be- 
ing in  shadow.  While  the  black  areas  of  the 
picture  are  large  enough  to  carry  a  mass  of 
gray  without  sacrificing  the  sunny  look,  such 
a  scheme  would  be  likely  to  produce  a  labored 
effect.  Two  alternative  schemes  readily  sug- 
gest themselves :  First,  to  make  the  archway 
the  principal  dark,  the  walls  light,  with  a  light 
half-tone  for  the  roof,  and  a  darker  effect  for 
the  trees  on  the  right.  Or,  second,  to  make 
these  trees  themselves  the  principal  dark,  as 
suggested  by  the  photograph,  allowing  them 
to  count  against  the  gray  of  the  roof  and  the 
ivy  of  the  tower.  This  latter  scheme  is  that 
which  has  been  adopted  in  the  sketch,  Fig.  38. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  trees  are  not 
nearly  so  dark  as  in  the  photograph.  If  they 
were,  they  would  be  overpowering  in  so  large 
an  area  of  white.  It  was  thought  better,  also, 
to  change  the  direction  of  the  light,  so  that  the 
dark  ivy,  instead  of  acting  contradictorily  to 
the  effect,  might  lend  character  to  the  shaded 
side.  The  lower  portion  of  the  nearer  tower 
was  toned  in,  partly  to  qualify  the  vertical  line 
of  the  tower,  which  would  have  been  unpleas- 
ant if  the  shading  were  uniform,  and  partly  to 
carry  the  gray  around  to  the  entrance.  It 
was  thought  advisable,  also,  to  cut  from  the 


PRACTICAL   PROBLEMS 


FIG.    38  C.   D.   M. 

foreground,  raising  the  upper  limit  of  the  pic- 
ture correspondingly.  (It  is  far  from  my  in- 
tention, however,  to  convey  the  impression 
that  any  liberties  may  be  taken  with  a  subject 
in  order  to  persuade  it  into  a  particular  scheme 
of  composition  ;  and  in  this  very  instance  an 
artistic  photographer  could  probably  have  dis- 


66 


PEN    DRAWING 


covered  a  position  for  his  camera  which  would 
have   obviated   the   necessity    for   any  change 
whatever; — a  near- 
er view  of  the  build- 
ing, for  one   thing, 
would  have  consid- 
erably lowered   the 
trees.) 

Third  We  will  consider 
Problem  stjn  anothersubject. 
The  photograph,, 
Fig.  39,  shows  a 
street  in  Holland. 
In  this  case,  the  first 
thing  we  have  to 
determine  is  where 
the  interest  of  the 
subject  centres.  In 
such  a  perspective 
the  salient  point  of 
the  picture  often 
lies  in  a  foreground  building;  or,  if  the  street 
be  merely  a  setting  for  the  representation  of 
some  incident,  in  a  group  of  foreground  fig- 
ures. In  either  case  the  emphasis  should  be 
placed  in  the  foreground,  the  distant  vanishing 
lines  of  the  street  being  rendered  more  or  less 
vaguely.  In  the  present  subject,  however,  the 
converging  sky  and  street  lines  are  broken  by 
the  quaint  clock-tower.  This  and  the  buildings 
underneath  it  appeal  to  us  at  once  as  the  most 


FIG.    39  FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH 


PRACTICAL    PROBLEMS        67 

important  elements  of  the  picture.  The  nearer 
buildings  present  nothing  intrinsically  inter- 
esting, and  therefore  serve  no  better  purpose 
than  to  lead  the  eye  to  the  centre  of  interest. 
Whatever  actual  values  these  intermediate 
buildings  have  that  will  hinder  their  useful- 
ness in  this  regard  can,  therefore,  be  changed 
or  actually  ignored  without  affecting  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  sketch  or  causing  any  pangs  of 
conscience.  . 

The  building  on  the  extreme  left  shows  very 
strong  contrasts  of  color  in  the  black  shadow 
of  the  eaves  and  of  the  shop-front  below. 
These  contrasts,  coming  as  they  do  at  the  edge 
of  the  picture,  are  bad.  They  would  act  like 
a  showy  frame  on  a  delicate  drawing,  keeping 
the  eye  from  the  real  subject.  It  may  be  ob- 
jected, however,  that  it  is  natural  that  the  con- 
trasts should  be  stronger  in  the  foreground. 
Yes ;  but  in  looking  straight  at  the  clock- tower 
one  does  not  see  any  such  dark  shadow  at  the 
top  of  the  very  uninteresting  building  in  the 
left  foreground.  The  camera  saw  it,  because 
the  camera  with  its  hundred  eyes  sees  every- 
thing, and  does  not  interest  itself  about  any 
one  thing  in  particular.  Besides,  if  the  keeper 
of  the  shop  had  the  bad  taste  to  paint  it  dark 
we  are  not  bound  to  make  a  record  of  the  fact ; 
nor  need  we  assume  that  it  was  done  out  of 
regard  to  the  pictorial  possibilities  of  the 
street.  We  decide,  therefore,  to  render,  as 


68  PEN    DRAWING 

faithfully  as  we  may,  the  values  of  the  clock- 
tower  and  its  immediate  surroundings,  and  to 
disregard  the  discordant  elements  ;  and  we  have 
no  hesitation  in  selecting  for  principal  empha- 
sis in  our  drawing,  Fig.  40,  the  shadow  under 
the  projecting  building.  This  dark  accent  will 
count  brilliantly  against  the  foreground  and 
the  walls  of  the  buildings,  which  we  will  treat 
broadly  as  if  white,  ignoring  the  slight  differ- 
ences in  value  shown  in  the  photograph.  We 
retain,  however,  the  literal  values  of  the  clock- 
tower  and  the  buildings  underneath  it,  and 
express  as  nearly  as  we  can  their  interesting 
variations  of  texture.  The  buildings  on  the 
right  are  too  black  in  the  photograph,  and 
these,  as  well  as  the  shadow  thrown  across  the 
street,  we  will  considerably  lighten.  After 
some  experiment,  we  find  that  the  building  on 
the  extreme  left  is  a  nuisance,  and  we  omit  it. 
Even  then,  the  one  with  the  balcony  next  to 
it  requires  to  be  toned  down  in  its  strong 
values,  and  so  the  shadows  here  are  made 
much  lighter,  the  walls  being  kept  white.  It 
will  be  found  that  anything  like  a  strong  em- 
phasis of  the  projecting  eaves  of  the  building 
would  detract  from  the  effect  of  the  tower,  so 
that  the  shadow  under  the  eaves  is,  therefore, 
made  grayer  than  in  the  photograph,  while 
that  of  the  balcony  below  is  made  stronger 
than  the  shadow  of  the  eaves,  but  is  lightened 
at  the  edge  of  the  drawing  to  throw  the  em- 
phasis toward  the  centre. 


FIG.    40 


C.    D.    M. 


7o  PEN    DRAWING 

To  add  interest  to  the  picture,  and  more 
especially  to  give  life  to  the  shadows,  several 
figures  are  introduced.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
the  cart  is  inserted  at  the  focal  point  of  the 
drawing  to  better  assist  the  perspective. 


CHAPTER     VI 
ARCHITECTURAL    DRAWING 

It  is  but  a  few  years  since  architects'  perspec- 
tives were  "  built  up  "  ( it  would  be  a  mistake 
to  say  "drawn  "  )  by  means  of  a  T-square  and 
the  ruling  pen  ;  and  if  architectural  drawing 
has  not  quite  kept  pace  with  that  for  general 
illustration  since,  a  backward  glance  over  the 
professional  magazines  encourages  a  feeling  of 
comparative  complacency.  That  so  high  a 
standard  or  so  artistic  a  character  is  not  observ- 
able in  architectural  as  in  general  illustration 
is,  I  think,  not  difficult  to  explain.  Very  few 
of  the  clever  architectural  draughtsmen  are 
illustrators  by  profession.  Few,  even  of  those 
who  are  generally  known  as  illustrators,  are 
anything  more  —  I  should  perhaps  say  any- 
thing less  —  than  versatile  architects;  and  yet 
Mr.  Pennell,  who  would  appear  to  assume,  in 
his  book  on  drawing,  that  the  point  of  view  of 
the  architect  is  normally  pictorial,  seems  at  a 
loss  to  explain  why  Mr.  Robert  Blum,  for  in- 
stance, can  illustrate  an  architectural  subject 
more  artistically  than  any  of  the  draughtsmen 
in  the  profession.  Without  accepting  his 
premises,  it  is  remarkably  creditable  to  archi- 


72  PEN    DRAWING 

tecture  that  it  counts  among  its  members  in 
this  country  such  men  as  Mr.  B.  G.  Goodhue 
and  Mr.  Wilson  Eyre,  Jr.,  and  in  England 
such  thorough  artists  as  Mr.  Prentice  and 
Mr.  Ernest  George  —  men  known  even  to 
distinction  for  their  skill  along  lines  of  purely 
architectural  practice,  yet  any  one  of  whom 
would,  I  venture  to  say,  cause  considerable  dis- 
placement did  he  invade  the  ranks  of  magazine 
illustrators.  Moreover  (and  the  suggestion 
is  not  unkindly  offered),  were  the  architects 
and  the  illustrators  to  change  places  architec- 
ture would  suffer  most  by  the  process. 
The  That  the  average  architect  should  be  in- 
capable of  artistically  illustrating  his  own  de- 
sign, ought,  I  think,  to  be  less  an  occasion  for 
surprise  than  that  few  painters,  whose  point  of 
view  is  essentially  pictorial,  can  make  even  a 
tolerable  interpretation  in  line  of  their  own 
paintings.  Be  it  remembered  that  the  pictures 
made  by  the  architect  are  seldom  the  records 
of  actualities.  The  buildings  themselves  are 
merely  contemplated,  and  the  illustrations 
are  worked  up  from  geometrical  elevations 
in  the  office,  very,  very  far  from  Nature. 
Moreover,  the  subjects  are  not  infrequently 
such  as  lend  themselves  with  an  ill  grace  to 
picturesque  illustration,  The  structure  to  be 
depicted  may,  for  instance,  be  a  heavy  cubical 
mass  with  a  bald  uninteresting  sky-line ;  or  it 
may  be  a  tall  office  building-,  impossible  to 


Architects* 
Case 


ARCHITECTURAL    DRAWING    73 

reconcile  with  natural  accessories  either  in  pic- 
torial scale  or  in  composition.  These  natural 
accessories,  too,  the  draughtsman  must,  with 
an  occasional  recourse  to  his  photograph  al- 
bum, evo/lve  out  of  his  inner  consciousness. 
When  it  is  further  considered  that  such  struc- 
tures, even  when  actualities,  are  uncompromis- 
ingly stiff  and  immaculate  in  their  newness, 
presenting  absolutely  none  of  those  interesting 
accidents  so  dear  to  the  artist,  and  perhaps  with 
nothing  whatever  about  them  of  picturesque 
suggestion,  we  have  a  problem  presented  which 
is  somewhat  analogous  to  that  presented  by 
the  sculpturesque  possibilities  of  "  fashionable 
trousering."  That,  with  such  uninspiring  con- 
ditions, architectural  illustration  does  not  de- 
velop so  interesting  a  character  nor  attain  to 
so  high  a  standard  as  distinguishes  general 
illustration  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  It  is 
rather  an  occasion  for  surprise  that  it  exhibits 
so  little  of  the  artificiality  of  the  fashion-plate 
after  all,  and  that  the  better  part  of  it,  at  least, 
is  not  more  unworthy  than  figure  illustration 
would  be  were  it  denied  the  invaluable  aid  of 
the  living  model.  So  much  by  way  of  apology. 

The   architectural   perspective,  however,   is       The 
not  to  be  regarded  purely  from   the  pictorial  ^rchitect*' 

r       •  T       •  -11  -  r  Potnt  °J 

point  of  view.  It  is  an  illustration  first,  a 
picture  afterwards,  and  almost  invariably  deals 
with  an  individual  building,  which  is  the  es- 
sential subject.  This  building  cannot,  there- 


74  PEN    DRAWING 

fore,  be  made  a  mere  foil  for  interesting  "  pic- 
turesqueries,"  nor  subordinated  to  any  scenic 
effect  of  landscape  or  chiaroscuro.  Natural 
accessories  or  interesting  bits  of  street  life  may 
be  added  to  give  it  an  appropriate  setting ; 
but  the  result  must  clearly  read  "  Building, 

with  landscape,"  not  "  Landscape,  with  build- 

•       » 

ing. 

Much  suggestion  for  the  sympathetic  hand- 
ling of  particular  subjects  may  be  found  in 
the  character  of  the  architecture  itself.  The 
illustrator  ought  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the 
designer,  ought  to  feel  just  what  natural  ac- 
cessories lend  themselves  most  harmoniously 
to  this  or  that  particular  type.  If  the  archi- 
tecture be  quaint  and  picturesque  it  must  not 
have  prosaic  surroundings.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  be  formal  or  monumental,  the  char- 
acter and  scale  of  the  accessories  should  be 
accordingly  serious  and  dignified.  The  ren- 
dering ought  also  to  vary  with  the  subject, — 
a  free  picturesque  manner  for  the  one,  a  more 
studied  and  responsible  handling  for  the  other. 
Technique  is  the  language  of  art,  and  a  stiff 
pompous  phraseology  will  accord  ill  with  a 
story  of  quaint  humor  or  pathos,  while  the 
homely  diction  that  might  answer  very  well 
would  be  sure  to  struggle  at  a  disadvantage 
with  the  stately  meanings  and  diplomatic  sub- 
tleties of  a  state  document. 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING    75 
It  would    be   well   for   the   student,   before 

,       .  |   .  Rendering 

venturing  upon  whole  subjects,  to  learn  to  Of  Detaii 
render  details,  such  as  windows,  cornices,  etc. 
Windows  are  a  most  important  feature  of  the 
architectural  drawing,  and  the  beginner  must 
study  them  carefully,  experimenting  for  the 
method  which  will  best  represent  their  glassy 
surfaces.  No  material  gives  such  play  of  light 
and  shade  as  glass  does.  One  window  is  never 
absolutely  like  another  ;  so  that  while  a  certain 
uniformity  in  their  value  may  be  required  for 
breadth  of  effect  in  the  drawing  of  a  building, 
there  is  plenty  of  opportunity  for  incidental 
variety  in  their  treatment. 

A  few  practical  hints  on  the  rendering  of 
windows  may  prove  serviceable.  Always  em- 
phasize the  sash.  Where  there  is  no  recess, 
as  in  wooden  buildings,  strengthen  the  inner 
line  of  sash,  as  in  Fig.  41.  In  masonry  build- 
ings the  frame  and  sash  can  be  given  their 
proper  values,  the  area  of  wood  being  treated 
broadly,  without  regard  to  the  individual 
members.  The  wood  may,  however,  be  left 
white  if  required,  as  would  be  the  case  in  Co- 
lonial designs.  In  either  case  the  dark  shadow 
which  the  sash  casts  on  the  glass  should  be 
suggested,  if  the  scale  of  the  drawing  be  such 
as  to  permit  of  it.  Do  not  try  to  show  too 
much.  One  is  apt  to  make  a  fussy  effect,  if, 
for  instance,  one  insists  on  always  shading  the 
soffit  of  the  masonry  opening,  especially  if  the 


76 


PEN    DRAWING 


scale  of  the  drawing  be  small.  Besides,  a  white 
soffit  is  not  a  false  but  merely  a  forced  value, 
as  in 
light 


» t=r._ 


n  strong  sun- 
the reflected 
light  is  considera- 
ble. If  the  frame 
be  left  white,  how- 
ever,  the  soffit 
oughttobe  shaded, 
otherwise  it  will 
be  difficult  to  keep 
the  values  distinct. 
In  respectof  wood- 
en buildings  there 
is  no  need  to  al- 
ways complete  the 
mouldings  of  the 
architrave.  Notice 
in  Fig.  41  that,  in 
the  window  with- 
out the  muntins, 
the  mouldings 
have  been  carried  round  the  top  to  give  color, 
but  that  in  the  other  they  are  merely  suggested 
at  the  corners  so  as  to  avoid  confusion.  Care 
should  be  taken  to  avoid  mechanical  rendering 
of  the  muntins.  For  the  glass  itself,  a  uni- 
formly flat  tone  is  to  be  avoided.  The  tones 
should  soften  vaguely.  It  will  be  found,  too, 
that  it  is  not  advisable  to  have  a  strong  dark 
effect  at  the  top  of  the  window  and  another  at 
the  bottom  ;  one  should  predominate. 


3?*l 


FIG.    41 


C.   D.   M. 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING    77 

The  student  after  careful  study  of  Fig.  41 
should  make  from  it  enlarged  drawings,  and 
afterwards,  laying  the  book  aside,  proceed  to 
render  them  in  his  own  way.  When  he  has 
done  so,  let  him  compare  his  work  with  the 
originals.  This  process  ought  to  be  repeated 
several  times,  the  aim  being  always  for  similar- 
ity, not  for  liter alness  of  effect.  If  he  can  get 
equally  good  results  with  another  method  he 
need  not  be  disconcerted  at  the  lack  of  any 
further  resemblance. 

The  cornice  with  its  shadow  is  another  sa- 
lient feature.  In  short  shadows,  such  as  those 
cast  by  cornices,  it  is  well,  if  a  sunny  effect  be 
desired,  to  accent  the  bottom  edge  of  the 
shadow.  The  shadow  lines  ought  to  be  gen- 
erally parallel,  but  with  enough  variation  to 
obviate  a  mechanical  effect.  They  need  not 
be  vertical  lines, — in  fact  it  is  better  that  they 
should  take  the  same  slant  as  the  light.  If 
they  are  not  absolutely  perpendicular,  how- 
ever, it  is  well  to  make  them  distinctly  oblique, 
otherwise  the  effect  will  be  unpleasant.  A 
clever  sketch  of  a  cornice  by  Mr.  George  F. 
Newton  is  shown  in  Fig.  42.  Notice  how 
well  the  texture  of  the  brick  is  expressed  by 
the  looseness  of  the  pen  work.  Some  of  the 
detail,  too,  is  dexterously  handled,  notably  the 
bead  and  button  moulding. 

The  strength  of  the  cornice  shadow  should 
be  determined  by  the  tone  of  the  roof  above 


PEN    DRAWING 


IT    "Z 


it.  To  obtain  for  this 
shadow  the  very  dis- 
tinct value  which  it 
ought  to  have,  how- 
ever, does  not  require 
that  the  roof  be  kept 
always  much  lighter 
than  it.  In  the  gable 
roof  in  Fig.  57,  the 
tone  of  the  roof  is 
shaded  lighter  as  it 
approaches  the  eaves, 
so  that  the  shadow 
may  count  more  em- 
phatically. This  or- 
der may  be  reversed, 
as  in  the  case  of  a 
building  with  dark 
roof  and  light  walls,  in 
which  case  the  shadow 
may  be  grayer  than 
the  lower  portion  of 
the  roof,  as  in  "B  "  in 
Fig.  44. 

But  the  beginner 
should  not  yet  hurry 
on  to  whole  subjects. 

A         ,  ,      J  FIG.   42        GEORGE  F.  NEWTON 

A  church  porch,  as  in 

Fig.  35,  or  a  dormer  with  its  shadow  cast  on 
a  roof,  as  in  Fig.  43,  will  be  just  as  beneficial 
a  study  for  him  as  an  entire  building,  and 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING    79 

will  afford  quite  as  good  an  opportunity  for 
testing  his  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
pen  drawing,  with  the 
added  advantage  that 
either  of  the  subjects 
mentioned  can  be 
mapped  out  in  a  few 
minutes,  and  that  a 
failure  or  two,  there- 
fore, will  not  prove  so 
discouraging  as  if  a 
more  intricate  subject 
had  to  be  re-drawn.  I 
have  known  promis- 
ing beginners  to  give 
up  pen  and  ink  draw- 
ing in  despair  because 
they  found  themselves 
unequal  to  subjects 
which  would  have 
presented  not  a  few 
difficulties  to  the  ex- 
perienced illustrator. 
When  the  beginner 
grows  faint-hearted, 
let  him  seek  consola- 
tion and  encouragement  in  the  thought  that 
were  pen  drawing  something  to  be  mastered 
in  a  week  or  a  month  there  would  be  small 
merit  in  the  accomplishment. 

It  is  a  common  fault  of  students  to  dive 


FIG.  43 


C.    D.    M. 


8o  PEN    DRAWING 

into  the  picture  unthinkingly,  beginning  any- 
A  General  where,  without  the  vaguest  plan  of  a  general 
System     effec^  whereas  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
that  every  stroke  of  the  pen  be  made  with  in- 
telligent regard  to  the  ultimate  result.     The 
following  general  method  will  be  found  valua- 
ble. 

Pencil  the  outline  of  the  entire  subject  be- 
fore beginning  the  pen  work.  It  will  not  do 
to  start  on  the  rendering  as  soon  as  the  build- 
ing alone  is  pencilled  out,  leaving  the  acces- 
sories to  be  put  in  as  one  goes  along.  The 
adjacent  buildings,  the  foliage,  and  even  the 
figures  must  be  drawn — carefully  drawn - 
before  the  pen  is  taken  up.  The  whole  sub- 
ject from  the  very  beginning  should  be  under 
control,  and  to  that  end  it  becomes  necessary 
to  have  all  the  elements  of  it  pre-arranged. 
Arrangement  Next  scheme  out  the  values.  This  is  the 
Falun  time  to  do  the  thinking.  Do  not  start  out 
rashly  as  soon  as  everything  is  outlined  in 
pencil,  confident  in  the  belief  that  all  windows, 
for  instance,  are  dark,  and  that  you  may  as 
well  make  them  so  at  once  and  be  done  with 
them.  This  will  be  only  to  court  disaster. 
Besides,  all  windows  are  not  dark ;  they  may 
be  very  light  indeed.  The  color  value  of 
nothing  is  absolute.  A  shadow  may  seem  al- 
most black  till  a  figure  passes  into  it,  when  it 
may  become  quite  gray  by  comparison.  So  a 
window  with  the  sun  shining  full  upon  it,  or 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING    81 

even  one  in  shade,  on  which  a  reflected  light 
is  cast,  may  be  brilliantly  light  until  the  next 
instant  a  cloud  shadow  is  reflected  in  it,  mak- 
ing it  densely  black.  Arrange  the  values, 
therefore,  with  reference  to  one  general  effect, 
deciding  first  of  all  on  the  direction  of  the 
light.  Should  this  be  such  as  to  throw  large 
areas  of  shadow,  these  masses  of  gray  will  be 
important  elements  in  the  color-scheme.  An 
excellent  way  to  study  values  is  to  make  a 
tracing-paper  copy  of  the  line  drawing  and  to 
experiment  on  this  for  the  color  with  charcoal, 
making  several  sketches  if  necessary.  After 
having  determined  on  a  satisfactory  scheme, 
put  fixatif  on  the  rough  sketch  and  keep  it  in 
sight.  Otherwise,  one  is  liable,  especially  if 
the  subject  is  an  intricate  one,  to  be  led  astray 
by  little  opportunities  for  interesting  effects 
here  and  there,  only  to  discover,  when  too  late, 
that  these  effects  do  not  hang  together  and 
that  the  drawing  has  lost  its  breadth.  The 
rough  sketch  is  to  the  draughtsman  what  man- 
uscript notes  are  to  the  lecturer. 

Do   not    be   over-conscious    of  detail.      It  Treatment  of 
is  a  common   weakness   of  the    architectural      Detatl 
draughtsman    to  be   too  sophisticated  in   his 
pictorial    illustration.      He    knows    so    much 
about  the  building  that  no  matter  how  many 
thousand  yards  away  from  it  he  may  stand  he 
will  see  things  that  would  not  reveal  them- 
selves to  another  with  the  assistance  of  a  field- 


82  PEN    DRAWING 

glass.  He  is  conscious  of  the  fact  that  there 
are  just  so  many  brick  courses  to  the  foot, 
that  the  clapboards  are  laid  just  so  many 
inches  to  the  weather,  that  there  are  just  so 
many  mouldings  in  the  belt  course,  —  that 
everything  in  general  is  very,  very  mathe- 
matical. This  is  not  because  his  point  of 
view  is  too  big,  but  because  it  is  too  small. 
He  who  sees  so  much  never  by  any  chance 
sees  the  whole  building.  Let  him  try  to  think 
broadly  of  things.  Even  should  he  succeed 
in  forgetting  some  of  these  factitious  details, 
the  result  will  still  be  stiff  enough,  so  hard  is 
it  to  re-adjust  one's  attitude  after  manipulating 
the  T-square.  I  strongly  recommend,  as  an 
invaluable  aid  toward  such  a  re-adjustment,  the 
habit  of  sketching  from  Nature,  —  from  the 
figure  during  the  winter  evenings,  and  out  of 
doors  in  summer. 

The  beginner  is  apt  to  find  his  effects  at 
first  rather  hard  and  mechanical  at  the  best, 
because  he  has  not  yet  attained  that  free- 
dom of  handling  which  ignores  unimportant 
details,  suggests  rather  than  states,  gives  in- 
teresting variations  of  line  and  tone,  and 
differentiates  textures.  A  good  part  of  the 
unpleasantness  of  effect  will  undoubtedly  be 
found  to  be  due  to  a  mistaken  regard  for 
accuracy  of  statement,  individual  mouldings 
being  lined  in  as  deliberately  as  in  the  geo- 
metrical office  drawings,  and  not  an  egg  nor  a 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING    83 

dart  slighted.  Take,  for  example,  the  case  of 
an  old  Colonial  building  with  its  white  cor- 
nice, or  any  building  with  white  trimmings. 
See  the  effect  of  such  a  one  in  an  "  elevation  " 
where  all  the  detail  is  drawn,  as  in  "  A,"  Fig. 
44.  Observe  that  the  amount  of  ink  neces- 


^.-^:E=^  E> 


FIG.  44 


C.  D.  M. 


sary  to  express  this  detail  has  made  the  cor- 
nice darker  than  the  rest  of  the  drawing,  and 
yet  this  is  quite  the  reverse  of  the  value  which 
it  would  have  in  the  actual  building,  see  "  B." 
To  obtain  the  true  value  the  different  mould- 
ings which  make  up  the  cornice  should  be 
merely  suggested.  Where  it  is  not  a  question 
of  local  color,  however,  this  matter  of  elimina- 
tion is  largely  subject  to  the  exigencies  of  re- 
production ;  the  more  precisely  and  intimately 
one  attempts  to  render  detail,  the  smaller  the 
scale  of  the  technique  requires  to  be,  and  the 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING    85 

greater  the  difficulty.  Consequently,  the  more 
the  reduction  which  the  drawing  is  likely  to 
undergo  in  printing,  the  more  one  will  be 
obliged  to  disregard  the  finer  details.  These 
finer  details  need  not,  however,  be  absolutely 
ignored.  Notice,  for  instance,  the  clever  sug- 
gestion of  the  sculpture  in  the  admirable  draw- 
ing by  Mr.  F.  E.  Wallis,  Fig.  45.  The  con- 
ventional drawing  of  the  facade,  Fig.  46,  is  a 
fine  illustration  of  the  decorative  effect  of  color 
obtainable  by  emphasizing  the  organic  lines  of 
the  design. 

The  elements  in  a  perspective  drawing  which  Foliage  am 
present  most  difficulties  to  the  architectural  Figur" 
draughtsman  are  foliage  and  figures.  These 
are,  however,  most  important  accessories,  and 
must  be  cleverly  handled.  It  is  difficult  to  say 
which  is  the  harder  to  draw,  a  tree  or  a  human 
figure  ;  and  if  the  student  has  not  sketched 
much  from  Nature  either  will  prove  a  stum- 
bling-block. Presuming,  therefore,  that  he  has 
already  filled  a  few  sketch-books,  he  had 
better  resort  to  these,  or  to  his  photograph 
album,  when  he  needs  figures  for  his  perspec- 
tive. Designing  figures  and  trees  out  of  one's 
inner  consciousness  is  slow  work  and  not  very 
profitable;  and  if  the  figure  draughtsman  may 
employ  models,  the  architect  may  be  per- 
mitted to  use  photographs. 

Unhappily  for  the  beginner,  no  two  illus- 
trators consent  to  render  foliage,  or  anything 


86 


PEN    DRAWING 


FIG.  46 


HARRY  ALLAN  JACOBS 


else  for  that  matter,  in  quite  the  same  way, 
and  so  I  cannot  present  any  authoritative 
formula  for  doing  so.  This  subject  has  been 
treated,  however,  in  a  previous  chapter,  and 
nothing  need  be  added  here  except  to  call  at- 
tention to  an  employment  of  foliage  peculiar 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING    87 

to  architectural  drawings.  This  is  the  broad 
suggestive  rendering  of  dark  leafage  at  the  sides 
of  a  building,  to  give  it  relief.  The  example 
shown  in  Fig.  47  is  from  one  of  Mr.  Gregg's 
drawings. 

The  rendering  of  the  human  figure  need  not 
be  dealt  with  under  this  head,  as  figures  in  an 

architectural  subject  are 
of  necessity  relatively 
small,  and  therefore  have 
to  be  rendered  very 
broadly.  Careful  draw- 
ing is  none  the  less  es- 
sential, however,  if  their 


FIG.  47 


D.  A.  GREGG 


presence  is  to  be  justified;  and  badly  drawn  fig- 
ures furnish  a  tempting  target  for  the  critic  of 
architectural  pictures.  Certainly,  it  is  only  too 
evident  that  the  people  usually  seen  in  such 
pictures  are  utterly  incapable  of  taking  the 
slightest  interest  whatever  in  architecture,  or  in 
anything  else;  and  not  infrequently  they  seem 


88  PEN    DRAWING 

to  be  even  more  immovable  objects  than  the 
buildings  themselves,  so  fixed  and  inflexible  are 
they.  Such  figures  as  these  only  detract  from 
the  interest  of  the  drawing,  instead  of  adding 
to  it,  and  the  draughtsman  who  has  no  special 
aptitude  is  wise  in  either  omitting  them  al- 
together, or  in  using  very  few,  and  is  perhaps 
still  wiser  if  he  entrusts  the  drawing  of  these 
to  one  of  his  associates  more  accomplished  in 
this  special  direction. 

The  first  thing  to  decide  in  the  matter  of 
figures  is  their  arrangement  and  grouping,  and 
when  this  has  been  determined  they  should  be 
sketched  in  lightly  in  pencil.  In  this  connec- 
tion a  few  words  by  way  of  suggestion  may  be 
found  useful.  Be  careful  to  avoid  anything 
like  an  equal  spacing  of  the  figures.  Group  the 
people  interestingly.  I  have  seen  as  many  as 
thirty  individuals  in  a  drawing,  no  two  of  whom 
seemed  to  be  acquainted, —  a  very  unhappy 
condition  of  affairs  even  from  a  purely  picto- 
rial point  of  view.  Do  not  over-emphasize  the 
base  of  a  building  by  stringing  all  the  figures 
along  the  sidewalks.  The  lines  of  the  curbs 
would  thus  confine  and  frame  them  in  unpleas- 
antly. Break  the  continuity  of  the  street  lines 
with  figures  or  carriages  in  the  roadway,  as  in 
Fig.  55.  After  the  figures  have  been  satisfac- 
torily arranged,  they  ought  to  be  carefully 
drawn  as  to  outline.  In  doing  so,  take  pains 
to  vary  the  postures,  giving  them  action,  and 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING    89 

avoiding  the  stiff,  wooden,  fashion-plate  type 
of  person  so  common  to  architectural  draw- 
ings. When  the  time  comes  to  render  these 
accessories  with  the  pen  (and  this  ought,  by  the 
way,  to  be  the  last  thing  done)  do  not  lose  the 
freedom  and  breadth  of  the  drawing  by  dwell- 
ing too  long  on  them.  Rise  superior  to  such 
details  as  the  patterns  of  neckties. 

We  will .  now  consider  the  application  to 
architectural  subjects  of  the  remarks  on  tech- 
nique and  color  contained  in  the  previous 
chapters. 

To  learn  to  render  the  different  texcures  of  Architectur 
the  materials  used  in  architecture,  the  student 
would  do  well  to  examine  and  study  the  meth- 
ods of  prominent  illustrators,  and  then  pro- 
ceed to  forget  them,  developing  meanwhile  a 
method  of  his  own.  It  will  be  instructive  for 
him,  however,  as  showing  the  opportunity  for 
play  of  individuality,  to  notice  how  very  dif- 
ferent, for  instance,  is  Mr.  Gregg's  manner  of 
rendering  brick  work  to  that  of  Mr.  Railton. 
Compare  Figs.  48  and  49.  One  is  splendidly 
broad, —  almost  decorative, —  the  other  inti- 
mate and  picturesque.  The  work  of  both 
these  men  is  eminently  worthy  of  study.  For 
the  sophisticated  simplicity  and  directness  of 
his  method  and  the  almost  severe  conscien- 
tiousness of  his  drawing,  no  less  than  for  his 
masterly  knowledge  of  black  and  white,  no 
safer  guide  could  be  commended  to  the  young 


90  PEN    DRAWING 

architectural  pen-man  for  the  study  of  princi- 
ples than  Mr.  Gregg.  Architectural  illustra- 
tion in  America  owes  much  to  his  influence 


FIG.    48 


D.    A.    GREGG 


and,  indeed,  he  may  be  said  to  have  furnished 
it  with  a  grammar.  Take  his  drawing  of  the 
English  cottages,  Fig.  50.  It  is  a  masterly 
piece  of  pen  work.  There  is  not  a  feeble  or 
tentative  stroke  in  the  whole  of  it.  The  color 
is  brilliant  and  the  textures  are  expressed  with 
wonderful  skill.  The  student  ought  to  care- 
fully observe  the  rendering  of  the  various  roofs. 
Notice  how  the  character  of  the  thatch  on  the 
second  cottage  differs  from  that  on  the  first, 
and  how  radically  the  method  of  rendering  of 
either  varies  from  that  used  on  the  shingle 
roof  at  the  end  of  the  picture.  Compare  also  the 
two  gable  chimneys  with  each  other  as  well  as 
with  the  old  ruin  seen  over  the  tree-tops.  Here 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING. 91 


FIG.  49 


HERBERT   RAILTON 


is  a  drawing  by  an  architectural  draughtsman 
of  an  architectural  actuality  and  not  of  an  arti- 
ficial abstraction.  This  is  a  fairer  ground  on 
which  to  meet  the  illustrators  of  the  pictur- 
esque. 


PEN    DRAWING 


FIG.    50 


D.    A.    GREGG 


Examples       Mr.  Campbell's  drawing,  Fig.  51,  is  a  very 
*<     good  example  of  the  rendering  of  stone  tex- 
tures.     The  old  masonry  is  capitally  expressed 
by  the  short  irregular  line.      The  student  is 


FIG. 


WALTER   M.    CAMPBELL 


94 


PEN    DRAWING 


HERBERT   RAILTON 


advised  to  select  some  portion  of  this,  as  well 
as  of  the  preceding  example  to  copy,  using, 
no  matter  how  small  the  drawings  he  may 
make,  a  pen  not  smaller  than  number  303. 
I  know  of  no  architectural  illustrator  who  hits 
stonework  off  quite  so  cleverly  as  Mr.  Good- 
hue.  Notice,  in  his  drawing  of  the  masonry, 
in  Fig.  8,  how  the  stones  are  picked  out  and 
rendered  individually  in  places  and  how  this 
intimate  treatment  is  confined  to  the  top  of 


96 


PEN    DRAWING 


FIG.  54 


C.    F.    BRAGDON 


the  tower  where  it  tells  against  the  textures  of 
the  various  roofs  and  how  it  is  then  merged 
in  a  broad  gray  tone  which  is  carried  to  the 
street.  Mr.  Railton's  sketches  are  full  of 
clever  suggestion  for  the  architectural  illus- 
trator in  the  way  of  texture.  Figs.  7  and  52 
show  his  free  rendering  of  masonry.  The  lat- 
ter is  an  especially  very  good  subject  for  study. 
Observe  how  well  the  texture  tells  in  the  high 
portion  of  the  abutment  by  reason  of  the  thick, 
broken  lines.  For  a  distant  effect  of  stone 
texture,  the  drawing  by  M  r.  J accaci,  Fig.  53 ,  is  a 
fine  example.  In  this  the  rendering  is  confined 
merely  to  the  organic  lines  of  the  architecture, 
and  yet  the  texture  is  capitally  expressed  by 


PEN    DRAWING 


FIG.    56 


C.    E.    MALLOWS 


the  quality  of  the  stroke,  which  is  loose  and 
much  broken.  The  general  result  is  extremely 
crisp  and  pleasing.  For  broad  rendering  of 
brick  textures,  perhaps  there  is  no  one  who 
shows  such  a  masterly  method  as  Mr.  Gregg. 
As  may  be  seen  in  his  sketch  of  the  blacksmith 
shop,  Fig.  48,  he  employs  an  irregular  drag- 
ging line  with  a  great  deal  of  feeling.  The 
brick  panel  by  Mr.  Bragdon,  Fig.  54,  is  a  neat 
piece  of  work.  There  is  excellent  texture,  too, 
in  the  picturesque  drawing;  by  Mr.  Harvey 

T7ii'        i-f-  1  11-  r    i 

Jims,  b  ig.  55  :  —  observe  the  rendering  or  the 
rough  brick  surface  at  the  left  side  of  the  build- 


ARCHITECTURAL   DRAWING    99 

ing.  A  more  intimate  treatment  is  that  illus- 
trated in  the  detail  by  Mr.  C.  E.  Mallows, 
the  English  draughtsman,  Fig.  56.  In  this 
drawing,  however,  the  edges  of  the  building 
are  unpleasantly  hard,  and  are  somewhat  out 
of  character  with  the  quaint  rendering  of  the 
surfaces.  Mr.  Goodhue  uses  a  similar  treat- 
ment, and,  I  think,  rather  more  successfully. 
On  the  whole,  the  broader  method,  where  the 
texture  is  carried  out  more  uniformly,  is  more 
to  be  commended,  at  least  for  the  study  of  the 
beginner.  Some  examples  of  shingle  and  slate 
textures  are  illustrated  by  Fig.  57.  It  is  ad- 
visable to  employ  a  larger  pen  for  the  shingle, 
so  as  to  ensure  the  requisite  coarseness  of 
effect. 

To  favorably  illustrate  an  architectural  sub- 
ject  it  will  be  found  generally  expedient  to  give 
prominence  to  one  particular  elevation  in  the 
perspective,  the  other  being  permitted  to  van- 
ish sharply.  Fig.  58  may  be  said  to  be  a 
fairly  typical  problem  for  the  architectural  pen- 
man. The  old  building  on  the  right,  it  must 
be  understood,  is  not  a  mere  accessory,  but  is 
an  essential  part  of  the  picture.  The  matter 
of  surroundings  is  the  first  we  have  to  decide 
upon,  and  these  ought  always  to  be  disposed 
with  reference  to  the  particular  form  of  com- 
position which  the  subject  may  suggest.  Were 
we  dealing  with  the  foreground  building  alone 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  adjusting  the 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING  101 


FIG.    58 


C.    D.    M. 


oval  or  the  diamond  form  of  composition  to 
it.*  As  it  is,  the  difficulty  lies  in  the  long 
crested  roof-line  which  takes  the  same  oblique 
angle  as  the  line  of  the  street,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  this  line  must  be,  as  far  as  possible, 
counteracted.  Now  the  heavy  over-hang  of 
the  principal  roof  will  naturally  cast  a  shadow 
which  will  be  an  important  line  in  the  compo- 
sition, so  we  arrange  our  accessories  at  the 
right  of  the  picture  in  reference  to  this.  Ob- 
serve that  the  line  of  the  eaves,  if  continued, 
would  intersect  the  top  of  the  gable  chimney. 
The  dwelling  and  the  tree  then  form  a  focus 

*  See  footnote  on  page  62. 


102 


PEN    DRAWING 


FIG.  59 


C.    D.    M, 


for  the  converging  lines  of  sidewalk  and  roof, 
thus  qualifying  the  vertical  effect  of  the  build- 
ing on  the  right.  As  the  obliquity  of  the 
composition  is  still  objectionable,  we  decide 
to  introduce  a  foreground  figure  which  will 
break  up  the  line  of  the  long  sidewalk,  and 
place  it  so  that  it  will  increase  the  influence  of 
some  contrary  line,  see  Fig.  59.  We  find  that 
by  putting  it  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  en- 
trance and  on  a  line  with  that  of  the  left  side- 
walk, the  picture  is  pleasingly  balanced. 

We  are  now  ready  to  consider  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  values.  As  I  have  said  before, 
these  are  determined  by  the  scheme  of  light 


ARCHITECTURAL    DRAWING  103 

and  shade.  For  this  reason  any  given  subject 
may  be  variously  treated.  We  do  not  neces- 
sarily seek  the  scheme  which  will  make  the 
most  pictorial  effect,  however,  but  the  one 
which  will  serve  to  set  off  the  building  to  the 
best  advantage.  It  is  apparent  that  the  most 
intelligible  idea  of  the  form  of  the  structure 
will  be  given  by  shading  one  side ;  and,  as  the 
front  is  the  more  important  and  the  more  in- 
teresting elevation,  on  which  we  need  sunlight 
to  give  expression  to  the  composition,  it  is 
natural  to  shade  the  other,  thus  affording  a 
foil  for  the  bright  effects  on  the  front.  This 
bright  effect  will  be  further  enhanced  if  we 
assume  that  the  local  color  of  the  roof  is  darker 
than  that  of  the  walls,  so  that  we  can  give  it  a 
gray  tone,  which  will  also  make  the  main  build- 
ing stand  away  from  the  other.  If,  however, 
we  were  to  likewise  assume  that  the  roof  of 
the  other  building  were  darker  than  its  walls, 
we  should  be  obliged  to  emphasize  the  objec- 
tionable roof  line,  and  as,  in  any  case,  we  want 
a  dark  effect  lower  down  on  the  walls  to  give 
relief  to  our  main  building,  we  will  assume 
that  the  local  color  of  the  older  walls  is  darker 
than  that  of  the  new.  The  shadow  of  the  main 
cornice  we  will  make  quite  strong,  emphasis 
being  placed  on  the  nearer  corner,  which  is 
made  almost  black.  This  color  is  repeated  in 
the  windows,  which,  coming  as  they  do  in  a 
group,  are  some  of  them  more  filled  in  than 


104 


PEN    DRAWING 


others,  to  avoid  an  effect  of  monotony.  The 
strong  note  of  the  drawing  is  then  given  by 
the  foreground  figure. 

Another  scheme  for   the  treatment  of  this 
same  subject  is  illustrated  by  Fig.  60.     Here, 


FIG.    60 


by  the  introduction  of  the  tree  at  the  right  of 
the  picture,a  triangular  composition  is  adopted. 
Observe  that  the  sidewalk  and  roof  lines  at  the 
left  side  of  the  building  radiate  to  the  bottom 
and  top  of  the  tree  respectively.  The  shadow 
of  the  tree  helps  to  form  the  bottom  line  of 
the  triangle.  In  this  case  the  foreground  fig- 
ure is  omitted,  as  it  would  have  made  the  tri- 
angularity too  obvious,  In  the  color-scheme 
the  tree  is  made  the  principal  dark,  and  this 


ARCHITECTURAL  DRAWING  105 

dark  is  repeated  in  the  cornice  shadow,  win- 
dows and  figures  as  before.  The  gray  tone  of 
the  old  building  qualifies  the  blackness  of  the 
tree,  which  would  otherwise  have  made  too 
strong  a  contrast  at  the  edge  of  the  picture, 
and  so  detracted  from  the  interest  of  the  main 
building. 


CHAPTER    VII 
DECORATIVE    DRAWING 

In  all  modern  decorative  illustration,  and,  in- 
deed, in  all  departments  of  decorative  design, 
the  influences  of  two  very  different  and  dis- 
tinct points  of  view  are  noticeable  ;  the  one 
demanding  a  realistic,  the  other  a  purely  con- 
ventional art.  The  logic  of  the  first  is,  that 
all  good  pictorial  art  is  essentially  decorative ; 
that  of  the  second,  that  the  decorative  subject 
must  be  designed  in  organic  relation  to  the 
space  which  it  is  to  occupy,  and  be  so  treated 
that  the  design  will  primarily  fulfil  a  purely 
ornamental  function.  That  is  to  say,  what- 
ever of  dramatic  or  literary  interest  the  deco- 
rative design  may  possess  must  be,  as  it  were, 
woven  into  it,  so  that  the  general  effect  shall 
please  as  instantly,  as  directly,  and  as  inde- 
pendently of  the  meaning,  as  the  pattern  of 
an  Oriental  rug.  The  former,  it  will  be  seen, 
is  an  imitative,  the  latter  an  inventive  art.  In 
the  one,  the  elements  of  the  subject  are  ren- 
dered with  all  possible  naturalism  ;  while,  in 
the  other,  effects  of  atmosphere  and  the  acci- 
dental play  of  light  and  shade  are  sacrificed  to 
a  conventional  rendering,  by  which  the  design 


DECORATIVE   DRAWING     107 

is  kept  flat  upon  the  paper  or  wall.  One 
represents  the  point  of  view  of  the  painter  and 
the  pictorial  illustrator  ;  the  other  that  of  the 
designer  and  the  architect.  The  second,  or 
conventional  idea,  has  now  come  to  be  widely 
accepted  as  a  true  basic  principle  in  decorative 
art. 

The  idea  is  not  by  any  means  novel ;  it  has  ne 
always  been  the  fundamental  principle  of  Jap-  Dec 
anese  art ;  but  its  genesis  was  not  in  Japan. 
The  immediate  inspiration  of  the  new  Decora- 
tive school,  as  far  as  it  is  concerned  with  the 
decoration  of  books,  at  least,  was  found  in  the 
art  of  Diirer,  Holbein,  and  the  German  en- 
gravers of  the  sixteenth  century,  —  interest  in 
which  period  has  been  lately  so  stimulated  by 
the  Arts  and  Crafts  movement  in  England. 
This  movement,  which  may  fairly  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  powerful  influences  in  lat- 
ter-day art,  was  begun  with  the  aim  of  restor- 
ing those  healthy  conditions  which  obtained 
before  the  artist  and  the  craftsman  came  to  be 
two  distinct  and  very  much  extranged  work- 
ers., The  activities  of  the  movement  were  at 
first  more  directly  concerned  with  the  art  of 
good  book-making,  which  fructified  in  the  fa- 
mous Kelmscott  Press  (an  institution  which, 
while  necessarily  undemocratic,  has  exerted  a 
tremendous  influence  on  modern  printing), 
and  to-day  there  is  scarcely  any  sphere  of  in- 
dustrial art  which  has  not  been  influenced  by 
the  Arts  and  Crafts  impetus. 


io8  PEN    DRAWING 

This  modern  decorative  renaissance  has  a 
Criticisms  root  in  sound  art  principles,  which  promises 
&&oot  ^or  ^  a  vigorous  vitality;  and  perhaps  the  only 
serious  criticism  which  has  been  directed  against 
it  is,  that  it  encourages  archaic  crudities  of  tech- 
nique which  ignore  the  high  development  of 
the  reproductive  processes  of  the  present  day  ; 
and,  moreover,  that  its  sympathies  tend  towards 
mediaeval  life  and  feeling.  While  such  a  crit- 
icism might  reasonably  be  suggested  by  the 
work  of  some  of  its  individual  adherents,  it 
does  not  touch  in  the  least  the  essential  prin- 
ciples of  the  school.  Art  cannot  be  said  to 
scout  modernity  because  it  refuses  to  adjust 
itself  to  the  every  caprice  of  Science.  The 
architect  rather  despises  the  mechanically  per- 
fect brick  (very  much  to  the  surprise  of  the 
manufacturer) ;  and  though  the  camera  can  re- 
cord more  than  the  pencil  or  the  brush,  yet 
the  artist  is  not  trying  to  see  more  than  he 
ever  did  before.  There  are,  too,  many  dec- 
orative illustrators  who,  while  very  distinctly 
confessing  their  indebtedness  to  old  examples, 
are  yet  perfectly  eclectic  and  individual,  both 
in  the  choice  and  development  of  motive. 
Take,  for  example,  the  very  modern  subject 
of  the  cyclist  by  Mr.  A.  B.  Frost,  Fig.  61. 
There  are  no  archaisms  in  it  whatever.  The 
drawing  is  as  naturalistic  and  just  as  careful  as 
if  it  were  designed  for  a  picture.  The  shad- 
ows, too,  are  cast,  giving  an  effect  of  strong 


DECORATIVE    DRAWING     109 


FIG.    6l 


A.    B.    FROST 


outdoor  light;  but  the  treatment,  broad  and 
beautifully  simple  so  as  to  be  reconcilable  with 
the  lettering  which  accompanied  it,  is  well 
within  conventional  lines.  That  the  character 
of  the  technical  treatment  is  such  as  to  place 
no  tax  on  the  mechanical  inventiveness  of  the 
processman  is  not  inexcusable  archaeology. 

A  valuable  attribute  of  this  conventional 
art  is,  that  it  puts  no  bounds  to  the  fancy  of 
the  designer.  It  is  a  figurative  language  in 
which  he  may  get  away  from  commonplace 
statement.  What  has  always  seemed  to  me  a 
very  logical  employment  of  convention  ap- 
pears in  the  Punch  cartoons  of  Sir  John  Ten- 
niel  and  Mr.  Lindley  Sambourne.  Even  in 


no  PEN    DRAW  ING 

those  cartoons  which  are  devoid  of  physical 
caricature  (and  they  are  generally  free  from 
this),  we  see  at  a  glance  that  it  is  the  political 
and  not  the  personal  relations  of  the  personae 
that  are  represented ;  whereas  in  the  natural- 
istic cartoons  of  Puck,  for  example,  one  cannot 
resist  the  feeling  that  personalities  are  being 
roughly  handled. 

A  chief  principle  in  all  decorative  design 
Relation  and  treatment  is  that  of  Relation.  If  the  space 
to  be  ornamented  be  a  book-page  the  design 
and  treatment  must  be  such  as  to  harmonize 
with  the  printing.  The  type  must  be  consid- 
ered as  an  element  in  the  design,  and,  as  the 
effect  of  a  page  of  type  is  broad  and  uniformly 
flat,  the  ornament  must  be  made  to  count  as 
broad  and  flat  likewise.  The  same  principle 
holds  equally  in  mural  decoration.  There  the 
design  ought  to  be  subordinate  to  the  general 
effect  of  the  architecture.  The  wall  is  not  to 
be  considered  merely  as  a  convenient  place  on 
which  to  plaster  a  picture,  its  structural  pur- 
pose must  be  regarded,  and  this  cannot  be 
expressed  if  the  design  or  treatment  be  purely 
pictorial  —  if  vague  perspective  distances  and 
strong  foreground  accents  be  used  without 
symmetry  or  order,  except  that  order  which 
governs  itself  alone.  In  other  words,  the  dec- 
oration must  be  organic. 

Decorative    illustrations    may    be    broadly 
classified  under  three  heads  as  follows:   First, 


EXL 


G. 
OLIVER 

mows. 


FIG.    62 


ALFRED  G.    JONES 


112 


PEN    DRAWING 


Decorative 
Design 


those  wherein  the  composition  and  the  treat- 
ment  are  both  conventional,  as,  for  example, 
in  the  ex-libris  by 
Mr.  A.  G.Jones,  Fig. 

62.  Second,  where  the 
composition    is    natu- 
ralistic, and  the  treat- 
ment only  is  conven- 
tional,   as    in     Mr. 
Frost's  design.  Third, 
where     the    composi- 
tion is  decorative  but 
not  conventional,  and 
the  treatment  is  semi- 
natural,  as  in  the  draw- 
ing   by    Mr.    Walter 
Appleton  Clark,  Fig. 

63.  (The  latter  sub- 
ject is  of  such  a  char- 
acter as  to  lend  itself 
without  convention  to  , 

FIG.  63 

a  decorative  effect; 
and,  although  the  figure  is  modeled  as  in  a 
pictorial  illustration,  the  organic  lines  are  so 
emphasized  throughout  as  to  preserve  the  dec- 
orative character,  and  the  whole  keeps  its  place 
on  the  page.)  Under  this  third  head  would 
be  included  those  subjects  of  a  pictorial  nature 
whose  composition  and  values  are  such  as  to 
make  them  reconcilable  to  a  decorative  use  by 
means  of  borders  or  very  defined  edges,  as  in 


W. APPLETON  CLARK 


Outline 


DECORATIVE    DRAWING     113 

the  illustration  by   Mr.  A.  Campbell   Cross, 
Fig.  64. 

Another  essential  characteristic  of  decora-  Tht 
tive  drawing  is  the  emphasized  Outline.  This  Decorat'"ve 
may  be  heavy  or  delicate,  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  subject  or  individual  taste.  The 
designs  by  Mr.  W.  Nicholson  and  Mr.  Sel- 
wyn  Image,  for  in- 
stance, are  drawn  with 
a  fatness  of  outline 
not  to  be  obtained 
with  anything  but  a 
brush  ;  while  the  out- 
lines of  M.  Boutet 
de  Monvel,  marked 
as  they  are,  are  evi- 
dently the  work  of  a 
more  than  usually 
fine  pen.  In  each 
case,  however,  every- 
thing is  in  keeping 
with  the  scale  of  the 
outline  adopted,  so 
that  this  always  re- 
tains its  proper  em- 
phasis. The  deco- 
rative outline  should 
never  be  broken,  but 
should  be  kept  firm, 
positive,  and  uni- 
form. It  may  be 


FIG.  64 


A.    CAMPBELL  CROSS 


PEN    DRAWING 


heavy,  and  yet  be  rich  and  feeling,  as  may  be  seen 
in  the  Mucha  design,  Fig.  65.  Generally  speak- 
ing, the  line  ought 
not  to  be  made  with 
a  nervous  stroke,  but 
rather  with  a  slow, 
deliberate  drag.  The 
natural  wavering  of 
the  hand  need  occa- 
sion no  anxiety,  and, 
indeed,  it  is  often 
more  helpful  to  the 
line  than  otherwise. 

Perhaps  there  is 
no  more  difficult 
thing  to  do  well  than 
to  model  the  figure 
while  still  preserving 


MUCHA 


FIG.    65 

the  decorative  outline.     Several  examples  of 


the  skilful  accomplishment  of  this  problem 
are  illustrated  here.  Observe,  for  instance, 
how  in  the  quaint  Diirer-like  design  by  Mr. 
Howard  Pyle,  Fig.  66,  the  edges  of  the 
drapery-folds  are  emphasized  in  the  shadow 
by  keeping  them  white,  and  see  how  wonder- 
fully effective  the  result  is.  The  same  device 
is  also  to  be  noticed  in  the  book-plate  design 
by  Mr.  A.  G.  Jones,  Fig.  62,  as  well  as  in  the 
more  conventional  treatment  of  the  black  fig- 
ure in  the  Bradley  poster,  Fig.  67. 

In  the  rendering  of  decorative  subjects,  the 


FIG.   66 


HOWARD  PYLE 


FIG.    67 


WILL   H.    BRADLEY 


DECORATIVE   DRAWING     117 


Color  should  be,  as 
much  as  possible,  Color 
designed.  Whereas 
a  poster,  which  is 
made  with  a  view  to 
its  entire  effect  be- 
ing grasped  at  once, 
may  be  rendered  in 
flat  masses  of  color, 
the  head-  or  tail- 
piece for  a  decora- 
tive book-page 
should  be  worked 
out  in  more  detail, 
and  the  design 
should  be  finer  and 
more  varied  in  col- 
or. The  more  the 
color  is  attained  by 
means  of  pattern, 
instead  of  by  mere 


68 


P.    J.    B1LLINGHURST 


irresponsible  lines,  the  more  decorative  is  the 
result.  Observe  the  color-making  by  pattern 
in  the  book-plate  by  Mr.  P.  J.  Billinghurst, 
Fig.  68.  A  great  variety  of  textures  may  be 
obtained  by  means  of  varied  patterns  without 
affecting  the  breadth  of  the  color-scheme. 
This  may  be  noticed  in  the  design  last  men- 
tioned, in  which  the  textures  are  extremely  well 
rendered,  as  well  as  in  the  poster  design  by  Mr. 
Bradley  for  the  Chap-Book,  just  referred  to. 


u8 


PEN    DRAWING 


Modern 
Decorative 
Draughts- 


The  color-scheme  ought  to  be  simple  and 
broad.  No  set  rules  can  be  laid  down  to  gov- 
ern its  disposition, 
which  must  always 
have  reference  to  the 
whole  design.  The 
importance  of  em- 
ploying such  a  broad 
and  simple  scheme 
in  decorative  draw- 
ing needs  no  better 
argument  than  the 
effective  poster  de- 
sign by  the  "  Beggar- 
staff  Brothers,"  Fig. 
69,  and  that  by  Mr. 
Penfield,  Fig.yo.  Of 
course  the  more  con- 
ventional the  design 
the  less  regard  need 
be  paid  to  anything  FIG-  69": 
like  a  logical  disposition  of  color.  A  figure 
may  be  set  against  a  black  landscape  with  white 
trees  without  fear  of  criticism  from  reasonable 
people,  provided  it  looks  effective  there. 

A  word  or  two,  in  conclusion,  concerning 
some  of  the  modern  decorative  draughtsmen. 
Of  those  who  work  in  the  sixteenth  century 
manner,  Mr.  Howard  Pyle  is  unquestionably 
the  superior  technician.  His  line,  masterly 
in  its  siireness,  is  rich  and  charged  with  feel- 


BEGGARSTAFF  BROTH] 


DECORATIVE    DRAWING     119 


FIG.    70 


EDWARD   PENFIELD 


ing.  Mr.'H.  Ospovat,  one  of  the  younger 
group  of  English  decorators,  has  also  a  charm- 
ing technique,  rather  freer  than  that  of  Mr. 
Pyle,  and  yet  reminding  one  of  it.  Mr.  Louis 
Rhead  is  another  of  the  same  school,  whose 
designs  are  deserving  of  study.  The  example 
of  his  work  shown  in  Fig.  71  — excellent  both 


120 


PEN    DRAWING 


In  color  and  in  draw- 
ing—  is  one  of  his 
earlier  designs.  Mr. 
J.  W.  Simpson,  in 
the  book-plate,  Fig. 
y2,shows  the  broad- 
est possible  deco- 
rative method ;  a 
method  which,while 
too  broad  for  any- 
thing but  a  poster 
or  a  book-label,  is 
just  what  the  stu- 
dent should  aim  at 
being  able  to  attain. 

Some     of    those     F1C 
decorators       whose 
work  shows  a  Japanese 


UDDBOR 
CRFUTne 


71 


LOUIS  J.    RHEAD 


FIG.    72 


J.    W.    SIMPSON 


influence  have  a  most 
exquisite  method. 
Of  these,  that  re- 
markable draughts- 
man, M.  Boutet  de 
Monvel,  easily 
takes  the  first  place. 
Those  who  have 

had    the   good    for- 

i  • 

tune  to  see  his  orig- 
inal drawings  will 
not  easily  forget  the 
delicate  beauty  of 
outline  nor  the  won- 


DECORATIVE    DRAWING     121 

derfully  tender  coloring  which  distinguishes 
them.  Mr.  Maxfield  Parrish  is  another  mas- 
terly decorator  who  is  noted  for  his  free  use 
of  Japanese  precedent  as  well  as  for  the  re- 
sourcefulness of  his  technique.  The  drawings 
of  Mr.  Henry  McCarter,  too,  executed  as 
they  are  in  pure  line,  are  especially  valuable 
to  the  student  of  the  pen.  In  respect  both  of 
the  design  and  treatment  of  decorative  sub- 
jects, the  work  of  the  late  Aubrey  Beardsley 
is  more  individual  than  that  of  any  other  mod- 
ern draughtsman.  That  of  our  own  clever  and 
eccentric  Bradley,  while  very  clearly  confessing 
its  obligations,  has  yet  a  distinctive  character 
of  its  own.  The  work  of  the  two  latter 
draughtsmen,  however,  is  not  to  be  recom- 
mended to  the  unsophisticated  beginner  for 
imitation,  for  it  is  likely  to  be  more  harmful 
than  otherwise-.  Nevertheless,  by  steering  clear 
of  the  grotesque  conventions  with  which  they 
treat  the  human  figure,  by  carefully  avoiding 
the  intense  blacks  in  which  a  great  deal  of  their 
work  abounds,  and  by  generally  maintaining 
a  healthy  condition  of  mind,  much  is  to  be 
learned  from  a  study  of  their  peculiar  methods. 


s 


14  DAY  USE 

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